


Blood Red Reign

by wobuzhidao322



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Emperor Hux, Emperor Kylo, Emperor Kylo Ren, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Power Dynamics, Power Imbalance, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-02-17 05:11:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 45,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13069842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wobuzhidao322/pseuds/wobuzhidao322
Summary: After TLJ, Hux is left with a decidedly unpleasant set of options: submit to Kylo Ren and preserve his life and the hope that one day he will at least be able to share rule of the galaxy, or die. It is an easy enough choice for Hux, but as should have been expected, Kylo Ren is not one to whom sharing comes naturally.Needless to say, it is a complete disaster from start to finish. Together they must come to terms with the fact that (like it or not) they need one another. Though...what kind of "need" exactly that is...well neither one of them can quite decide.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> This does take place after the Last Jedi so don't read it unless you have seen the movie because it immediately starts of with important plot details.

Snoke had to die. There was no getting around it. The old, mangled monster needed to be killed because if Kylo didn’t kill Snoke, it was clearly only a matter of time before Snoke killed him. He clenched a gloved fingered hand in a tight fist, feeling the way the leather- though soft from use- bit into his fingers, grounding him in his surroundings once again. It was becoming harder and harder to maintain his grasp on reality. Every day, with every new communication with the girl- with Rey- he felt something slip within him. Not the will to fight and to kill, however. It was the will to obey that with every single second was chipped away. Death was all Kylo thought of these days.   
The dark haired man swept quickly through the halls of his current master’s ship. He was for some reason very aware of the clicking noise his boots made as they hit the ground. The black robes he wore felt tight on his warm skin. He caught the reflection of his scarred face in the highly polished floor's surface but quickly swept his gaze upwards. It was not for reasons of vanity that he looked away. It was merely that he often still did not recognize himself when he looked at his reflection. So much had changed since he had been little Ben Solo. Even now the sight of his scarred visage had the ability to distract him. He did not have time for that now. The few moments he had left before what was coming were precious. He needed to think. To strategize now before lack of time or emotion got the better of him. The loss of his mask had hurt at first, but now as he felt the cool air of the ships systems against his skin- he felt alert- awake for the first time since he had first fallen at Snoke’s feet so many years ago. The mask has been his crutch for so long that he had not longer recognized it for what it was. Without it he felt like a blind man seeing the world for the first time. Seeing light and darkness and color-the galaxy and the reality of his existence within it.   
Yes, in many ways his master had been right. He was a child in a mask, or rather he had been. What was he now then, that the mask laid smashed to pieces in the lift? He was not Ben Solo, no matter what Rey called to him as she took his hand. Yet, he was not Kylo Ren either. The master of the nights of Red had died on Starkiller base when the untrained nobody had bested him. No, he was someone all together new. He was stronger now. Older. He had survived his first master’s attempt to kill him when his powers grew to great, and he would survive the second attempt. Better yet, this time he would beat his master to it. The lightsaber strapped to his side was a comforting weight. 

So caught up in his musings had he been, that Kylo did not realize where he was. He had come to a stop incredibly far away from the throne room. He stood now in a small corridor on the southwest corner of the ship. The blank, metallic walls were the same as all the others that covered the ship, but there was something comforting about this place that seemed unique. The force wrapped around him here- filling him with warmth. A hum of power swept through him and he sighed around with contentment- letting it fill him. A large window looked out into the blank, blackness of space around them. He drew closer, soulful eyes scanning the black for the shape he sought. The rebel ships were slowly dying off. Soon the last transport would give out and the fight would be over. All around him the sounds of life faded away. For a moment he felt like a child. The memory of the first time he had been allowed to fly an X-wing swept across his mind. He remembered how vast and free the galaxy had seemed. How could anyone rule something so large and seemingly endless as this? 

It had turned out to be easier then his ten year old self could have possibly imagined. The trick was to build a weapon that could destroy entire systems and to try and do so at a time when the memory of the force had all but faded away. During the days of the old republic perhaps people would have looked to hope longer, fought a little bit harder. However the death of the Jedi had done wonders for the first order. That was why no one would come to the aid of the slowly dying rebellion. They had lost the power of hope- and with Rey turned to his side perhaps there spark would finally vanish from the galaxy. If she could be persuaded to let the past die with that old fool Skywalker- but that was a problem for another time. 

Kylo Ren let his eyes fall closed, running a large hand through his hair. With every day he could feel himself growing more and more tired. His control freeing like a piece of twine pulled to taut. It was only a matter or time before it snapped.   
When he had begun walking he had had no real destination in mind, just a burning urge to get as far away from the “Supreme Leader” as he possibly could. Supreme Leader. He scoffed loudly, a dark smile twisting his handsome face. What a farce that was. The wizened old mystic sat on his throne in the red wrapped heart of this ship and pretended to have won control over the galaxy all on his lonesome. Snoke may like to act as if it was through his actions alone that the First Order had swept across the galaxy, making system after system bend their knees in supplication, but Kylo knew better. It was Hux who had won them control over the galaxy- not snoke. Hux and his military shrewdness- his will to succeed had brought them the star killer. It was Hux who had destroyed the republic, Hux who had succeeded where he and Snoke had failed. A darkly comic thought danced through his head. Perhaps it would be Hux who stood victorious when the smoke and haze of the battle for control over the galaxy at long last came to an end. Kylo stopped for a moment, the image of the red haired general standing victorious, overlooking a great sea of his new subjects. Banners of red and white blew gently in the same breeze that caught Hux’s brilliant hair in its grasp and tousled it in artful waves. A crown of diamond and silver sat atop his brow, those sea glass eyes looking haughtily down at the Masses below him. His usual black coat and boots had been abandoned. Instead, he wore a coat of purest white. His pants and shirt were the same color, though the emblem of the first order was embroidered delicately onto the jacket’s shoulder. His gloves and boots were made of glistening black leather. The dark circles which the force wielder so frequently saw on the man’s face were gone. Instead he looks fresh and lively. His hair restored to its shiny red lustre, eyes shining bright as they used to shine at Kylo in fury. He looked beautifully vicious. Emperor Hux. Kylo could not help but notice that he was absent in this picture. For some reason he was a little saddened by it. As much as the general hated him and he hated the general, they had accomplished great and terrible things together. He wondered what they could do if Smoke was gone. They could level the resistance, bring the entire galaxy to heal. They could conquer all of that immense blackness and all who saw them would fear and love their rulers. They could rule like Palpatine and Vader before them. In time Hux would submit to Kylo’s will, and Kylo might even be persuaded to reward him for doing it. With his power and Hux’s will and brilliance they would build the galaxy anew.   
A droid whizzed around the corner. The slow buzz of its many gears and mechanisms jerked him from his day dream and back into reality. He laughed- albeit a dry and humorous laugh. No. Hux may survive them all yet, but he would never rise to supreme leader- never be emperor. Not without Kylo by his side. The general was brilliant. A brilliant zealot with as much to prove as Kylo himself, but he was but a man. He could not reshape matter and twist minds to his will. He could not take the breath from someones lungs from a system away. Hux was a politician, a military strategist. His men loved him for his brilliance and would follow him to the ends of the earth, but the rest of the galaxy would not fear him. Kylo knew that they should. After all, it was Hux who had destroyed an entire system. Yet, Kylo knew something that they general probably knew himself: while the entire galaxy might be willing to bow to a mystical giant who could use the force to wreak havoc, a few of them may be less likely to follow a slim, young man, with delicate features and a distinct lack of magic powers.   
“But, he could still be useful to me,” Kylo whispered gently. The general presented an opportunity. The red headed man’s sense of competition had caused many problems for the force wielder in the past. However, even Hux seemed to sense that the longer Snoke stayed in power, the more dangerous it became for the both of them. No matter what Kylo thought of Hux, or how often he had cast his mind towards visions of slowly torturing the general as revenge for his many slights, Kylo knew that Hux was and would be invaluable to him if he decided to kill the old man and take power. 

A black gloved hand slid down his side to rest on the hilt of his saber. He ran a leather clad finger across its cool, metal hilt. He began to trace circles on the metal surface as he looked out into the blackness once more and began to plan. It was a nervous tick but he let himself give in to the habit. The nerves would still be gone, replaced only with the calm certainty of violence.   
With every minute they all moved closer to something crucial. He could feel it in the force. A reckoning was coming and he needed to plan for it now- to hold on to his control until the moment had come and passed. He would start with Rey. She was already on her way to him. He could feel her draw closer with every second. This woman was a far cry from the girl he had encountered on the starkiller. She was stronger now, raw and angry. There was a darkness in her that seemed to grow larger within her heart with each passing second. There was a light to, but perhaps that could be snuffed out as well. After all, what he planned to offer her was something she had been seeking since the day she left that junk heap of a planet she called home. When the deed was done he would hold out his hand to her. He would become the only family she needed and together no one would stand in their way. Soon she would arrive and he would be ready for her. From there he would take his next chance. He would offer half of the galaxy to her, and if she took it together they would destroy what was left of the Jedi and his mother’s rebellion. Faced with serving Kylo and Rey or dying, Hux would be the clever boy he had always been and no doubt choose to serve them. The three of them could crush anyone who dared oppose them. 

The dark haired man may have been many things, but he was no fool. Kylo was very aware of the potential for a new rebellion to spring forth. Many had bowed to the order because they feared Snoke. Some would see this change in leadership as an opportunity to try and seize power of their own little decor of the blackness. Warlords would rise to take up the planets on whom the order had a weak grip and without Hux, even the partnership between himself and the girl may prove not enought. However, with Hux on his side the order could maintain control of the galaxy and crush anyone so stupid as to challenge them. Kylo would not kill the general until the man had truly outlived his usefulness. Then, perhaps Kylo would use his saber to remove the general’s pretty head. 

If Rey refused she would need to die. However, he would cross that bridge when he came to it. For now, Kylo was content to hope that the force would bring her into his arms and make her see that the only path for the galaxy was to cleanse it. To make it anew at his side. 

He felt her ship drop out of light speed and after taking a moment to look out at the vast blackness of space one more time, Kylo Ren turned on his heel and made his way to the landing bay to receive her.


	2. Chapter 2

Hux steeled himself. The red haired general- at least he thought he was still a general since Ren had yet to formally demote him- had been standing outside of the new Supreme Leader’s quarters for about ten minutes preparing himself for what was to come. He had thought the walk to Ren’s new rooms would be sufficient enough to calm his mind and focus on securing his position in this new regime, or at least escaping execution at the hands of their new leader, but it had not. It seemed that in his fury over the girl’s escape with the handful of rebels left and Skywalker’s trickery that Lord- Supreme Leader Ren had decided to redecorate a stretch of the hallway with his light saber. The angry scars in the wall, some of which were still smoking, destroyed any calm Hux had built up on the walk over. Had he been less worried about the immediate future he might have stopped to appreciate that at least the dark haired maniac had not killed anyone. 

He could feel a tapestry of bruises beginning to form on his back and knees. The former from when Ren had thrown him into the wall inside the TIE fighter, the latter from the throne room. Hux winced as his mind replayed the scene. He felt his knees hit the cold, blood stained ground. He felts the dark haired man’s phantom grip tighten around his thought, saw the force wielder looking above him as he kneeled. Hux hadn’t realized it until that moment, but it was the first time he had ever experienced true terror. It had been exhilarating and horrific at once. It had reminded him in a strange way of standing abroad the Starkiller as it had fired the blast that destroyed the Hosinian system. To be so close to such devastating power that he could feel it, but also close enough to feel its heat tear at his skin. His view of Ren had shifted as he looked up into those violent brown eyes and said the words he knew the taller man wanted to hear: “Long live the supreme leader.” The old Kylo Ren might have thrown some childish remark at him, lingered on the humiliation he knew that Hux must be feeling. There had been none of that. The force wielder had simply stormed away, waiting only a moment at the door for the general to get up from his knees and follow him. 

As little as he wanted to be here, standing in front of his old rival’s door, Hux knew he had no choice. The Order had triumphed. The rebellion was destroyed except for a handful of fools who would soon realize they had little left to fight for- and little chance of success. The galaxy was their’s to rule and yet there had been no orders from their new leader. Kylo had locked himself in his quarters and for theist three days no one had seen or heard from him. Some of the men were beginning to grow restless. No one would dare disobey Ren, and they trusted Hux when he told them to be patient, but tension was high. Hux understood what had the order so disquieted. No one, including himself, could understand why they were sitting here- stagnant. The whole galaxy was theirs to do as they pleased with and yet they sat on the edge of this useless planet waiting. They needed to be planning their next move, deciding how to go about actually keeping control of this empire that they had won with blood, sweat, and death. With every second they say idle and did nothing to assert their control the more likely it became that planet by planet they would lose the fear that kept the galaxy in line. It was this pressing thought that finally prompted Hux to punch in the door’s code and enter the dimly lit rooms beyond. 

Ren used to occupy a small set of rooms on the finalizer and the same had been true when they were on Snoke’s ship, but now he had practically a whole suite of rooms to himself. The large living area and its small kitchen were immaculate. Clearly they had not so much as been touched. A small corridor was placed at the back of the living area. It branched off into three open doorways. Through the first Hux could see an office unit. The shelves were lined with books. Clearly whoever had occupied these rooms before Ren had had quite the collection of books. Hux idly wondered if Res could even read. The second open doorway lead to a small fitness center. This seemed to have been used as through the doorway Hux could see an open mat in the center of the floor, and the dismembered pieces of a dozen combat training droids. The final doorway lead to a large bedroom. Curiosity got the better of him, and nearly forgetting the reason he had come, Hux stepped through the third door way. There was a large bed at the center. The sheets were black and twisted in a way that suggested that Ren had slept there. A small table was placed at the side of the bed. On it was a book in a language Hux did not understand. He was a bout to reach forward and lift it formats place when a deep voice vaulted him from his dreamlike state.   
“ I don’t remember summoning you here, Hux.” Hux whipped around to see Kylo Ren standing in the door way that separated the bedroom from the refresher. The tall man wore nothing but a pair of slim fitting dark pants that stopped just at the line of his hips. Long waves of blackish brown hair fell across his shoulders and his brown eyes flashed dangerously as he looked at Hux. The general was struck by the beauty before him, perhaps because he had never had such an opportunity to take it in unbiased. In his stunned state it became far easier to notice the full lips and subtle pout then it was when its owner was trying to strangle him on the bridge. Momentarily stunned both by the shock of realization of what he had just been doing and by Ren himself did not respond. Ren stepped forwards towards him. Each movement sang of a subtle violence. “Yet, you…invite yourself into my quarters and my bedroom. Have you already forgotten our last encounter, or better yet what happened when you found me in the throne room?” Each word was purred out in that low growl Ren had without the mask.   
Unsure of what to do, Hux decided to simply try and speak reason and hope that would be enough. Red wouldn’t kill him. At least he didn’t think he would. Hux was no fool. He knew that both he and Ren were aware that without Hux to lead the military and governmental aspects of the Order whatever was won would be easily lost. As powerful as Ren was, he was not politician. The general hoped that this would be enough to keep his head attached to his shoulders.   
“Ren, you need to make a decision,” Hux said with as much determination as he could. Without Snoke there to hold his apprentice’s leash there was no telling what this lunatic might do. He tried to project the same air of casual disinterest he always maintained with Ren. At least, that he had maintained before all of this.   
“Oh, about what?” Red stepped forward again, drawing up to his full height. He looked like a mass of muscle and scars. Hux felt the tendrils of that familiar grips around his throat, but they did not contract. It was a warning. Hux pressed on. He needed to get his message across or it would mean trouble for all of them.   
“We need to discuss our next move. The resistance is nearly wiped out. The galaxy is ours but we need to start maneuvering now or we will lose what we have won before-” The grip on his throat tightened slightly. Not enough to actually cut of the flow of oxygen to his lungs, but enough to halt him in his speech.   
“Forgive me, General, but the last time I checked I am the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Not you,” Res growled. His face was neutral but his eyes lit up with that chaotic anger Hux had seen in the throne room. “I will decide what we do and when we do it and you-“ Red took another step forward and Hux continued to back up until his thighs hit the back of the bed. “You will obey me.” He couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. Thoughts formed and then vanished into nothingness in his mind. All he could do was look into Ren’s eyes as the supreme leader advanced on him. They were so close now. He could feel the heat coming off Ren’s body as the former knight drew ever closer. Soon they were nearly nose to nose. Ren reach out a large hand and smacked him across the face. Hux felt his lip split, the thin stream of blood trickling down his chin.   
Ren smiled. It was a cruel, cold smile. “Hux. The only reason you are still alive. Is because I think you might be useful to me,” Kylo whispered. Hux watched, frozen, as Kylo lifted a hand and traced the beginnings of a bruise blossoming on his neck. Hux shuddered at the touch and hated Ren for it. He knew what the man was doing. Humiliation was a part of it, but Kylo wanted blood. He was a being of violence and right now Hux was trapped with him just days after he had once again been dealt a blow by the resistance. Hux tried to turn away, but his head was ripped back to its first position and half there by the force. He tried to move but discovered he was held in place. “No matter what front we must put up for the galaxy where are “political alliance” will be concerned I want you to understand something. You will work for me- under me. You will do what I tell you to do when i tell you to do it. We will not be partners. I am sparing you,” the grip tighten slightly and with a shove from the force, Hux was on his knees once again, “because I need someone to oversee the order who is not a complete fool. You are alive because the order will follow you and because it will take more time to find someone new then it will to keep you on. Make no mistake, I will take what I want from you. You will do everything you can to ensure that my desires are met and that when I tighten my grip on this galaxy that order will be maintained. You will be my eyes and ears. You will do whatever you can to further my cause.” There was a pause. Hux looked up at Ren. The words filtered through his mind embedding themselves. Hux knew that he had no choice. That the alternative was to have that grip on his throat tighten until the life was choked from him or his neck was snapped. Yet, he could not help himself even now. As smart as Armitage Hux may be he never could resist a challenge. Ren needed him. If this was how they were going to be setting up the terms of there agreement, he’d be damned if he didn’t fight for himself. He had nothing left to lose. So, he made the greatest gamble possible. If he had miscalculated it would mean death.   
“Yes. I will, but in turn you will give me something I want. I will support you, help you maintain control of the galaxy, but I will be given complete control over the minutia of The Order. I will be your second in command. When you become emperor you will make me your minister.” Hux let out the stream of demands quickly and concisely, looking straight into the taller man’s eyes as he spoke. “In return I will swear my eternal and unconditional loyalty to you. I will direct the rest of the order and eventually the galaxy to do the same.” Another silence followed and then Ren started to laugh. His pretty brown eyes lit up once more but not with the same brutal fire as before. He leaned down. “On your knees and you still have the nerve to try and cut a deal,” Ren said it with something approaching awe. There was a splitting pain in his left temple. Hux knew what was happening. Ren was going through his thoughts, considering. Hux sat, trapped by the invisible restraints which locked him in place. He meant it. Every single word he had said was the absolute truth. Ren was insane and childish, and Hux would have been fine to be rid of him forever, but now Ren represented the only chance for Hux to hold on to what he had spent a life time building. He would not let vanity and pride prevent him from his ascent. He had come to far for that. He had sworn loyalty to snoke. He could swear it to Ren. Hux had spent his life fighting for himself, doing what he needed to to survive. With Snoke, for a while at least it had seemed that he was finally fighting alongside someone with the same goal as him- but that had soon been disproved. With Kylo though, Hux saw new possibility. Ren was devoted to the cause of destroying the disorder of the galaxy, just as Hux was. They had fought alongside one another. Though there had been hatred there spurred by competition, they had accomplished so much. Now, with Snoke gone, perhaps Hux would finally be able to work without the threat of failure. The same would be true for Ren, and perhaps in time they would grow closer. They were of a similar age. Both had undergone their share of trauma, risen above their backgrounds to become the most powerful men in the galaxy in their own ways. The two of them might have much more in common then even they knew. Perhaps one day Kylo would grow to trust him enough that they could rule the galaxy together. Snoke had been cool, evil, but Kylo, kylo was different. He was a man. He could be changed. Hux might in time be able to change him. Divert him from the childish anger he so often gave into and teach him about control, finesse, and political brutality rather than physical. 

The pain vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. Ren stepped back, looking down consideringly at him. There was something new in the way that Ren looked at him, something he had not seem before on the knight’s face. He didn’t like it. 

Hux waited to the axe- or the saber- to fall. It didn’t. “Fine. I accept you little terms, Hux. You will be my second in command for as long as I feel you are useful to me. You will swear your loyalty to me, publicly, in front of the order and the rest of the galaxy. Until then you will swear it to me now. If I even suspect for a second that you are trying to deceive me I will have you begging for your death long before I grant it to you.” Ren’s voice was even now, his expression considering. Hux wanted to turn from that focused, intense gaze, but was still unable to move. Hux could not deny that Ren was incredibly handsome. His open expressive face and tall, muscled form had been a distraction to Hux the moment he had set his eyes on Ren without that horrible mask on. It was for this reason that he had been so quick to lash out at Ren before, now it made the intense scrutiny incredibly uncomfortable. “Hux,” Ren’s rich voice broke the spell. The bonds vanished as Kylo sank down in a crouch so they were at eye level. Hux watched silently as Kylo produced a small knife from somewhere in his boot. Hux’s eyes widened.  
For a moment he thought Ren meant to kill him, plunging the slim blade into his heart, but after a second he understood what the supreme leader meant to do. Bonding with blood was not a common practice, it had long gone out of fashion. It was an intimate act, something which in some religions was almost akin to tying ones soul to another. The implications of this choice, the symbolism, were not lost on Hux. He was certain that was why the dark haired man had chosen it. It was brutal and bold, and didn’t that fit Kylo Ren perfectly.   
He had not, but perhaps should have expected something as arcane as this. Hux reached out his left hand. Ren looked at him curiously but calmly. Hux watched as the supreme leader cut a long line down the middle of his palm, from writs to middle fingertip. The Ren took hux’s outstretched hand and did the same. Hux tried not to wince as the knife dug into his flesh. It was deep enough to scar, which was no doubt the point. Kylo grasped Hux’s cut hand with his own, eyes still locked with Hux’s. That unsettling look was still on his face. “Armitage Hux, do you swear loyalty to me? That you will serve me as best you can and do all that I ask of you for as long as you live?’ For a moment Hux was taken aback. He had not known that Ren knew his full name. “Yes. I swear it.” Hux answered. “Yes, what,” Ren asked, expression darkening. “Yes, supreme leader.”   
“Better. Do you swear to bind yourself to me and my cause for as long as you live?” Ren’s face was grim and focused as he spoke these last words. Hux was struck by how many moles dotted the other man’s face. They were like constellations. Beautiful. The had never been so close to one another before. “Yes. I swear to bind myself to you and to your cause for as long as a live,” Hux repeated back, eyes still locked with Ren’s. Hux sat in silence as Ren chanted a steady stream of words, unthinking when Ren finished Hux repeated the chant back. He did not know the words or what they meant but something told him that this was what he was supposed to do. 

Ren looked at him with that same strange look.For a moment Hux was sure something had passed between them. He felt different, like he and Ren were joined by something. Perhaps they were. Ren’s blood now flowed in his veins. Hux had never put stock in any of the old faiths. Before being confronted face first with the power of the force he had not believed in that either. He had come to at least acknowledge that. The red haired man owed that rude awakening to the man in front of him. From the day he first experienced the power of Kylo Ren, Hux had been a believer in the force. Faith…well, faith he was still working on. 

Hux started as ren dropped his hand and rose to his full height once more. His knees ached and the split lip still stung but he did not move a muscle, still locked in the strange trance of this moment. He watched as Ren stalked back into the fresher, saying only “now get out of my quarters and don’t ever come before me without requesting an audience ever again,” before the door closed behind him. Shell shocked by the enormity of what had just transpired, Hux took a moment to gather himself before rising to his feet and making his way out of Ren’s chambers as fast as he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kylo's perspective in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Behind the fresher door, Kylo listened to Hux’s hurried retreat. For the first time since Kylo had met the red headed man on the finalizer, Hux had surprised him. This was, in truth, something that the force wielder had thought to be impossible. However, the last few minutes had proven him incredibly wrong. 

Kylo had known that Hux was ambitious and that this ambition would sooner or later lead him to try and overthrow Snoke. He had also known that Hux would do what it took to achieve his goal not only of bringing order to the galaxy, but also of ruling it. This fact had been a major part of his calculation in choosing to leave the man alive after he had killed Snoke. When he confined himself in his quarters the dark haired man had known it was only a matter of time before Hux cam knocking on his door. What he had not expected was such honesty. He had expected to have to drag the truth from the man’s mind, to receive the same half lies and veiled truths he had watched Hux feed Snoke over the years. When he alerted the general to his presence he had planned first to humiliate and then to harm, give the general a lasting warning about where the now stood in the order of things. However he had never thought to account for the possibility that Hux would be open to truly working with him- or even more open to possibility of binding their fates together. 

Kylo looked down at his still bleeding palm, before washing it gently with water. The mark was deep enough to scar. He wrapped it gently with a cloth, savoring the pull the fabric over the broken skin. He had seen the look of recognition in the man’s eyes when he drew his knife and carved the symbol in their hands. The man knew of blood bonds, but Kylo was fairly sure hux had not idea the full extent of what he had just participated in. The thought brought a small smile to the supreme leader’s face. 

He looked into the mirror before him. The man looking back at him looked far better then he had three days ago. His face was unlined, the dark circles fading. Kylo had gone half mad when he discovered Skywalker’s treachery. A surge of darkness had swept through him like a wave as he set foot in the old rebel stronghold to find it empty. That rage had boiled within him as they made their way back to the fleet. He had chosen to sequester himself within a few hours of returning to the order flagship. The dark haired man was well aware that is absence would cause panic and restlessness but he didn’t care. He needed time to meditate, to think and consult what texts he had before he began to decide what kind of ruler he was going to be. Fear would keep most of the galaxy in line, at least for a while, but Kylo knew that the politics of running his newly acquired empire would need to be left to someone more versed in such matters. Palpatine had failed because he had tightened his grip to fast, his violence had only served to give fuel to the rebellion. Kylo may not be a politician but he knew that he must avoid losing what he had gained. He must isolate the remaining rebels. If the rest of the galaxy grew to love him, or at least what he provided them- they would be content to let Organa and her rebel scum be slaughtered. Hux was the man for the job, and though Kylo was not sure if he would ever trust the man with his life, he would certainly trust Hux’s ambition and fear of his abilities to keep him on Kylo’s side. He thought of the trails of thought he had snatched from Hux’s mind. Words like beautiful had gone through the general’s mind as he had looked at him. Kylo was not yet sure what to do with that information. It had never once crossed him mind that the general saw anything attractive in him. That Hux clearly found him physically attractive was disconcerting, but even more so was the fact that the red headed man found their potential for partnership attractive. They had been enemies, but from what he had seen in the other man’s mind it was clear that Hux sensed a kinship between them- or perhaps the possibility for one. A part of him scoffed at the idea, the other was uncertain. Only time would tell. 

Kylo had been prepared to keep the man in line with terror while also constantly monitoring the general’s thoughts to make sure he wasn’t betrayed. He had not really meant a word about replacing Hux. He knew that there were none within the order who would not have the same desire to one day supplant him, and even fewer who were as strategically brilliant as Hux.  
When he pushed himself into Hux’s mind the first waves of though were a shock. It was almost unbelievable to him that the man who had seemingly made it his mission to one-up him when they were equals would be so open to change. More then that, he could see the gears turning in the red head’s mind. He saw the progress they could make, the triumphs they could have if they worked together. An image had pushed its way to the forefront of the general’s mind, perhaps without the other man even realizing it. It had been crystal clear, and even now it had fixed itself in Kylo’s own mind. Kylo had seen them, sitting side by side in thrones of black stone. Red and white banners lined the vast, glass domed hall where they sat. Red armored guards dotted the walls, but they had been more for decoration then protection. He still had his light saber at his side, a black loved hand always resting softly on its hilt. Kylo was resplendent in black robes, a black fur trimmed cape swept across his broad shoulders. Hux wore a matching ensemble, but in snowy white. Together they sat on a dais, raised slightly above those who came to seek an audience with the rulers of the galaxy. Kylo wore a crown of dark obsidian. The scar on his face was still visible, but faded and less angry then in reality. Hux wore a circlet of diamond and ivory. Instead of one emperor there would be two. Hux and Ren. They would rule with an iron fist but together they would capture the heart and soul of the galaxy. None would challenge them. None would dare or desire to. The image had been a striking one, but Kylo doubted its possibility. The force shuddered around him as he played the image once again in his mind. He could not deny that the thought stirred something in him, but there would be a long way to go before Kylo could even begin to acknowledge that.  
Kylo shook his head, chiding himself for giving way to such ridiculous musings. They hated one another. They always had and always would. Hux was a survivor. He would do what ever was necessary to save his neck and keep hold of what power he had won himself. Yet, a voice whispered within him, there was something more at work here then a drowning man grabbing hold of the first raft to come by. It had all been there in the other man’s mind. That ambition reared its head, but this time it would be married with his own. Kylo knew that Hux had been right, Kylo was no politician. Hux had much he could teach him there. Besides, though he sought to bring order to the galaxy and to snuff out those who would oppose him, he had little interest in negotiating the trade deals and other tedious things which came with actually ruling the galaxy. If Hux could keep his oath to stay in line and do only what Kylo wished him to, together they would make a formidable combination. Hux could best his enemies politically and Kylo could strike them down with military might. Yes, he had chosen the right path in choosing to leave the general alive. 

Kylo strode out of the fresher, heading towards the bed. A spot of blood on the sleek floor stopped him in his tracks. It must have gone flying when he had smacked the general. In his minds eye he could see Hux as he knelt before him. The expression of shock that had momentarily soften the generals delicate, but sharp features. It had been priceless to see the red head’s expression as his lip burst. Perhaps more striking had been the general’s obedience. He had fought back at first, but eventually he had submitted. How sweet that had been. Hux, on his knees saying “Yes, Supreme Leader.” The same man who had time and time again spited him and tried to get the wizened old man to turn on him, kneeling for him. To say it was gratifying would have been an understatement. 

He pulled himself from the vision and finished the journey to his bed. Kylo fell back on the soft mattress, mind still focused on Hux, though he made a valiant effort to think of anything else. Possibilities flowed through his mind like an avalanche as he lay in the dark, staring off into the ether with unfocused eyes. He had seen much during his mediation but his meeting with the red haired general seemed to have cause a shift. Futures had vanished and sprung into life the second there bloody palms had met. The force had fluttered around them as Hux looked into his eyes and spoke the words he clearly did not understand. Kylo had felt the force drawing around them, locking them together in a way he had not felt since he had first been connected to the scavenger. That bond had been severed when she closed the door of the falcon. This grew stronger with every passing moment. For a brief moment he wondered which of the endless possibilities would come to pass. He snorted, he was being foolish- imaging in the way a child would about things that were too outlandish to come to pass. He would most likely grow tired of Hux within a few days and throw him out and airlock. He reached for his pad, sending our a quick message before letting his thoughts fall into nothingness as sleep embraced him. He dreamed of a matching set of black thrones. 

The message read as follows: Tomorrow, at 0800. Meeting room 5. Be on time or suffer the consequences. We have much to plan.


	4. Chapter 4

Hux sat in the conference room, fuming. It had been nearly two hours since the time Ren had specified in the message had passed. To say Hux was furious would be like saying that water was wet or blood was red. For two hours and, he looked down at his watch, twenty minutes he has been waiting for the new supreme leader to make an appearance. He clenched his hand in a fist and the slowly healing wound on his palm burned as the skin stretched. Hux saw a few dots of red dot the white bandage. The medical droid who had bandaged his bleeding hand after his encounter with Ren had asked if Hux wanted to prevent scaring, Hux had refused the treatment. Somehow he thought that the dark haired man had intended for the cut to scar. That way the mark of their union would always be present on the general’s pale palm. Especially, Hux thought with a rye smile, if Hux was planning on using said palm to grip a dagger to put in his supreme leader’s infuriating muscular back. As the silence stretched on and on, Hux began to think that the latter was not such a bad idea. He wondered absently if Ren was doing this on purpose. If the whole of last night had merely been some bizarre joke and if any second a group of troopers would be coming to drag him away for execution. He would not put it past the man. In fact it would probably be an entirely sound move on Ren’s part, even if its consequences would be devastating and result in the dissolution of what they had built. 

In the first half and hour he had thought that Ren was merely running behind. It seemed reasonable. After all, he knew little about the knight, but assumed that he was most likely unused to passing very much time without having someone tell him what to do. By the time and hour and a half had elapsed Hux’s confidence in the idea that he had managed to secure himself a second change at the throne of the galaxy. By the time the large door to the meeting room slid open to reveal Ren, respondent in perfectly tailored black robes and trousers, boots shining, Hux was simply angry. Irritating and something approaching rage swept through him as he took in the lazy arrogance on the handsome man’s face. The way the scar bisecting it warped when he smirked at Hux. That was what pushed him over the edge and into dangerous waters.  
“Why thank you for bothering to show up, Ren. I have been waiting here for you for,” he looked down at his watch more for show then a need to actually check the time, “four hours. For four hours I have sat here waiting for you. Had you bothered to inform me that you were incapable of showing up on time to your own meeting, I could have spent this time-“ Hux was cut off. Not by a pair of phantom fingers around his throat as he had expected (frankly he was amazed he had made it so far in his tirade), but by a sudden force knocking him back into his chair. It was enough to silence him, but a definite improvement from the way an interaction like this might have ended a day ago.   
“General,” Ren purred, tone dangerous but eyes shining with that same fascination that has been so disconcerting the night before. Hux sat frozen and seething as Ren lowered himself into a seat at the head of the table. Behind him a bay of windows showed the star strewn blackness beyond. The pale light of the rooms lighting system cast an ethereal glow on the man’s face. It was sickeningly gorgeous and Hux hated it. “First of all, I will warn you once and only once more. Things are going to be different from now on. You will address me as Supreme Leader or suffer the consequences. Second, it would do you well to remember where you now stand in the order of things. You serve me now, at and for my pleasure. If I want you to wait you will wait. Understood?” 

Perhaps it would not have been so hard for Hux to bite out the strained, “yes, supreme leader,” if Ren didn’t look so pleased with himself. There was no doubt in the general’s mind that Ren, although he may need Hux got succeed, was going to savor every moment of his submission to him. Not that Hux blamed him. Given the chance he would have done the same. Yet, he had no choice. Both of them knew that. Hux was a man of his word and he would obey Ren. It would clearly not be as easy as he thought it would be when under the spell of Ren’s presence he had sworn his loyalty. Ren was clearly intent on making it as difficult as he possibly could. In theory it was the right move, but in practice he could tell it would be torturous. 

Ren smiled. “Good, now,” he leaned forward, “let’s get on with it.” Hux forced himself to look at the stack of papers Ren seemingly produced from thin air and slapped on the table, and not instead loose himself in the hypnotic glow of those hateful eyes. “I know little of politics, but I am aware that the first thing I must do is designate a capitol world. I have none in particular in mind, but the new government must have a seat of power. We will need a palace. Grand and spectacular enough to outmatch any of the old republic or new. I want the galaxy to forget the past and set their eyes on the future.” His tone was straightforward, business like and matter of fact. It was fascinating to see this new side of a man he had thought certainly to be at least half mad. Perhaps there was more to the knight then even he had suspected. He was, after all, the son of one of the greater politicians the galaxy had ever seen. Not to mention the son of a smuggler known for swindling half of the galaxy with wit and charm. In his surprise, Hux forgot his anger, moving instead to the task at hand. He had been up all night strategizing and had an idea or two. In fact, that was most of the reason he had been so irritated with Ren’s lateness. He was running on car and fumes, but his eyes began to light up as he heard Ren’s words. His excitement at the possibility for the future had taken over. For the first time since he lost the star killer Hux was bursting with anticipation of the things to come, of what could be achieved.   
He pulled out a pad and pulled up the graphics he had completed the night before after he received Ren’s message. He pulled up the first page of information, switching it to a holoprojection. The blue figures burst into three dimensional form casting a blue light over both of them. He did not dare turn his gaze to the supreme leader. He did not want to know what the blue would do to his beauty marked skin and already shining eyes.   
“I think I may have a solution for that. While I originally considered Coruscant, the original seat of the empire, the symbolism seemed slightly too aggressive. Instead,-“  
“I agree,” ren interrupted with that low baritone of his. “Coruscant would certainly send a message, but the empire is dead and I have no desire to associate myself with it. I will not be palpatine. I will not fail as he did and let the rebellion come to life again.” 

Hux nodded shortly and when it was clear Ren was done he began again. “ Then I would instead suggest we move the capitol to Naboo.”   
“No.”   
Hux had expected that. It was why he had spent the evening preparing his response. “Re- Supreme Leader.” He saw Ren smirk at the quick correction. Hux was determined not to let that phase him. “Naboo is the perfect choice. While taking up the old seat of the empire would be foolish, choosing Naboo was the capitol would put us in a prime position. Theed is large but it is nothing compared to the cities of coruscant. It puts us in a place where when the city grows as a result of it becoming the capital we will be able to control that growth. Security will be of the upmost concern until the rebels are extinct. Not to mention that you are a direct descendant of one of its most beloved queens. It is a well place planet and the cities defenses are more then sufficient. It will provide a perfect place for us while we construct a new palace,” with a flourish of his finger he flicked the projection over to the blue prints he had drawn up the night before. They were not as detailed as he would have liked, but he had been in a rush. The image of a grand, but not overly lavish building replaced the holographic Naboo. 

He turned to look at Kylo. The other man was looking with an expression caught between amusement and shock at the lengths to which Hux had gone. Clearly he had no idea who he was dealing with. Hux had not made it so far with snoke because he did things by half measures. It was what had made him a great soldier and leader. He committed to everything he did, determined to be the best at it. He wondered is Ren knew it was Hux who had designed the starkiller. It the other man had been informed or even cared enough to find out who had laid the plans that had lead them to galactic domination.   
Hux smirked, and turned back to his design. “It will be three times the size of the current royal palace in Theed. It’s size is not our of a desire to be lavish but more of a contingency plan. We can house and entire garrison there easily along with all the weapons, supplies and stores we could ever need.”   
“It’s a fortress,” Ren whispered, although it seemed more that he was talking to himself then to Hux.   
“Yes. A beautiful, fortress. The outer wings and rooms will be what people expect from the emperor of the galaxy. They will be reminiscent of the old royal palace of naboo, but will lean more towards imperial elegance then republican extravagance. We will have gardens, glass ceilinged ballrooms and everything else necessary to convince those who come to pay tribute that the order desires nothing but peace and prosperity for all we rule. However, the heart of the palace will be of iron and durasteel. A fortress disguised as a palace. We may have won the day, but as there numbers decrease the rebellion will become more desperate and dangerous. We must project our calm and security to the galaxy, but we must be cautious. From this place the order can protect serenity and elegance, while being ready for violence.” 

Speech finished, Hux looked back at Ren, watching as the dark haired man looked a little longer at the plans before them. Ren turned to him, that look that Hux was beginning to despise back on his face.   
“When can construction begin?”   
Hux leaned back in his chair. “ As soon as you wish, Supreme Leader.” The title came out a little bit easier this time Ren’s blatant admiration for his design easing the way. Ren did not brake his gaze. “Send out the orders now. I want it complete as soon as possible.” Hux nodded and typed away at his pad. He felt Ren’s eyes on him as he typed but did his best to ignore the gaze. Hux thought he felt a light touch at the edge of his mind, but dismissed it. It was probably just the exhaustion and relief he was experiencing. 

When the last set of instructions was sent out, he looked up. “Every available hand has been put to the task. The palace will be completed in a years time. The outer shell should be complete in a month, at which time we can begin the process of moving you there.” 

“Good.”

“Then we can move to the next order of business. Will need to work on winning over the masses. Choosing Naboo for the capitol will ingratiate us there as will your heritage, the planet is experiencing shortages of jobs and poverty. Construction of the palace will feed and cloth many of its citizens. However we cannot stop at one planet. We must find a way to win over the poor and young in the outer rim planets. We must convert those who the residence would use against us to our cause.” 

Ren snorted. It was a strange sound coming from him. He seemed actually amused, not amused in the cruel way he normally was. Hux thought perhaps what he was seeing now was a remnant of Ben Solo, so engrained that Kylo ren had not been able to destroy it. “How exactly did you come to this conclusion, Hux? They hate us. You are right, the people you describe are those the rebellion will try and convert, but they will not be swayed. Terror is the only thing that will keep them in line. Terror or death.” He said this matter of factly, looking at Hux like he was explaining something to someone painfully stupid. 

“Yes. Some would rather die then join us.” Hux smiled at Ren darkly, “but I have never known you to be shy about removing such… obstacles. However, some one them will be persuaded to join us if we abandon the rule of terror that held the empire back. I have already outlined several plans to this effect. We will give them food, jobs, shelter, and all else they need to have good full lives. When confronted with the choice between loyalty to the order and being provided with food, and joining the rebellion and being slaughtered they will make the right choice. They will join us at first out of necessity and then- in time- because they desire to. We will give them the order they need in their lives. We will snuff out corruption and unnecessary cruelty, together we will move towards an ordered society where all can work for the common goal of bringing order to the galaxy.”

When Hux stopped speaking there was a moment of silence. Ren was looking at him intently, clearly he had been just as caught up in watching Hux speak as Hux had been in speaking. The general tried not to squirm under the scrutiny but it was hard. He felt as though Ren were stripping him bare with those black hole eyes of his.

“ Was this your plan? When you imagined yourself as emperor, was this how you planned to change the hearts of those who knew you were capable of destroying entire systems?” There was no judgment in Ren’s voice, only pure curiosity.   
Hux thought of lying of deflecting even to avoid whatever humiliation Ren was planning, but there would be no point. Ren would just force the truth out of him. Besides, he wanted Ren to trust him. The found himself subconsciously running his fingers along the line of the cut on his palm. If Ren noted this he did not show it. “Yes. It was. The palace, the palace is new. Back then, when I first began to draw up the plans even I could not quite believe I would get that far. When I took over the finalizer I had no time to such dream, and more to the point they were dangerous.” 

Ren nodded and then rose from his chair and began to sweep towards the door. The meeting was clearly over. Hux watched as the tall, broad man made his across the room. The new clothes fit his strong body much better then his old ones. The change was subtle but it did wonders. The supreme leader looked much younger then he had when snoke was still alive. They both did. Hux had noticed this when he washed his face this morning before coming to the meeting. The circles under his eyes were gone, he looked less like a corpse and more like a man. 

When he reached the door way, Ren turned. “You have done well, Hux. Continue to prove your worth to me like you have today and you will be rewarded. Send me these plans of yours. I want updates on the palace’s construction. You will oversee the preparations on Naboo in person. I will call you when I have need of you again.” 

Hux knew he should keep his mouth closed, but he could not help himself even now. He was baffled. “What? You're just going to send me off to Naboo, just like that? What about the rebels? What about the girl? You expect me to sit and oversee construction while you galavant off with my fleet?” Right when he had started to think Ren was becoming reasonable the force wielder reminded him that he was dealing with an unstable, whack job and not a normal human being.   
Just as he had known it would, the phantom grip tightened around him, but this time instead of simply leaving him to sputter in his chair, the grip ripped him from his seat and dragged him towards Ren. He felt the large digits of Ren’s hand tighten around his neck. The contact felt strange. He was so used to the force choke that actually feeling Ren’s elegant fingers on his neck was a welcome change. A little bit of variety to spice things up. He was reminded of the previous evening. He remembered kneeling, looking up into Ren’s eyes as the shirtless man looked down on him. A flush rose on his cheeks. He cursed the paleness his skin. There was no way Ren wouldn’t notice it. Ren wasn’t wearing gloves so Hux could feel the warmth of skin against skin. It was electric. Ren drew closer, pulling Hux into him by the neck. 

He tilted closer, so close that Hux felt the knight’s dark hair against his skin and his warm breath on the shell of his ear as he growled low and intoxicating, “Oh Hux, just when I thought you were beginning to accept your place.” Ren smelled like honey and some spice Hux had never smelled before. “Don’t forget what your swore to me last night. You swore you would be loyal to me, that you would obey me. Your plans please me, but do not let that delude you into thinking you can offer your opinion if I have not asked for it.” Ren pulled back, and they really were nose to nose now. It was strangely intimate and Hux found his blush growing darker. He shouldn’t feel the tingling of arousal shooting down his spine. Hux tried his best to force them down before Ren noticed. “Answer me when I speak to you, Hux,” Ren growled. “Yes, Supreme Leader,” he responded. His voice was a shrill squeak. Ren smiled, a crooked handsome smile. “Good boy. Now, you will go to Naboo and oversee construction. You will report to me every night and I…I will go and hunt down the rest of the rebel scum and slaughter them.” That manic glow was back in Kylo’s eyes but the grip on Hux’s throat had loosened. “Now, what do we say, Hux?” Ren whispered. “Yes, Supreme Leader,” Hux whispered back. They were so close, Hux could see the supreme leader’s pupils dilate. “Good Boy,” Ren growled again, leaning so close now that for a moment Hux thought Ren was going to kiss him. He closed his eyes. Of course, nothing of the sort happened. Ren’s fingers vanished from his neck and with the hiss of the metallic door he was gone. Hux didn’t know if that was what he wanted or not.


	5. Chapter 5

Hux did not see Ren for just over three months after that. Hux had received a notification that a shuttle had been prepared for his departure for Naboo only and hour after Ren had left him alone in the conference room. A day later he and his men had arrived and begun work on the construction of the new imperial palace. Ren had given him more then enough men and resources to get the job done, before vanishing with the armada.

So it was that Armitage Hux had found himself once again in control of a major project. It was true it was where he excelled, but that had not been enough to temper his immediate reaction. At first he had been angry, seeing this as a slight against him- a comment on Ren’s opinion of his military skill. In dark moments on the journey to Naboo he had even suspected it was a plot to keep him in the dark. Perhaps by cutting him out of the loop and sending him to this place the supreme leader was opening a void for another to take his place. 

A part of Hux had wanted to storm into the brat’s quarters and demand to go with him. He was still a general and thus should be a part of the order’s military maneuvering. The only thing that stopped him from doing just that was the knowledge of how thin the ice he was treading on was. So, instead of pitching a childish fit he threw himself into his work. As had been the case when he served Snoke, much was at stake if he failed. 

As Hux had predicted the new source of jobs and income won over even those amount the populace who had been horrified at the selection of their world as the seat of the new government. When the news spread around the city that the first order were providing three meals, clothes, and steady employment, tens of thousands of poor flocked to the recruiting station. The work progressed swiftly and efficiently just as Hux had known it would. 

He began meeting with the noble and merchant families, winning them over with the charm he had long stored away. It had been a long time since he had needed to resort to such tactics, but it came back to him quickly. Soon he had invitations to parties nearly every night. At some he was even the guest of honor. Snoke had starved the old republic planets, Hux and Ren had given them life once more and they were grateful for it. The influx of first order money had slowly but surely started to revitalize the world, and if Hux had learned one thing from his father it was that if you kept everyone wealthy, it became a lot easier for them to accept you as their leader. 

Though Hux harbored a fundamental distaste for anything connected to the old republic, even he could not deny that Naboo was beautiful. The streets were full of color and life, very different from the cold halls of the finalizer. Hux intended to enact several policies to rid the city of the corruption and depravity he saw in them, but he was not opposed to the markets on principal. 

Part of the city were turning to ruins. The new republic had not given the planet enough to rebuild the damage that had been done during the final days of the empire’s fight against the resistance and lack of maintenance had many of the once beautiful structures crumbling. Once the days work was finished Hux would often walk through the city streets or the palace grounds before returning to his rooms to send Ren his nightly message. 

Slowly but surely, with every day he became more and more at home in Theed. After a few weeks he no longer missed the halls of the finalizer, or his cramped quarters. For the first time in what felt like centuries he could wake to the sun on his face, warming his skin. With his men he was still the same cold, calculating force for reason he had always been, but in his moments alone he let it slip. He felt a freedom here he had not experienced in a long time. Of course, Ren’s shadow was always present in his mind, but as the days went on without a response from the dark haired man it became a diminishing one.

The first few days he had attempted to live call Ren but the dark haired man had not answered. It had stung at first, but after a few days he simple brushed off the strange twinge he felt in his gut. Now, he simply recorded a message and left it in Ren’s inbox. While the messages were viewed (a small indicator at the bottom of his files indicated this) Ren never responded. It was no matter. Hux rarely had anything of significance to report. He was almost completely sure that Ren was not interested in the reports at all. Hux was nearly certain that the supreme leader waned only to further assert his dominance over him- make sure he was being a “good boy.” God, even now thinking about the way Ren had whispered the words in his ear made him shudder. He forced the feelings down then and he continued to do so now. Feelings about Ren like the ones he occasionally felt rising within him were dangerous. 

They had been dangerous when he was younger and if anything they were even more so know. In his youth, it had been much easier to be careless. Back then he did not have to worry about dealing with someone who could see past the false face he sometimes wore. He could not hide from Ren and the knight had always enjoyed reminding him of it. 

His estimates on the time it would take to construct the palace had been off by a considerable amount. This was not because of any flaws in his calculations. The general had simply not expected the workers they hired to be so receptive and efficient. The outer shell of the palace was completed in just over three and a half weeks. The garrison of soldiers and engineers he had brought with him had begun the process of building the inner palace. He had decided it would be prudent not to bring the local builders in to work on this part of the project. Hux wanted it kept as secret as possible. That being said they had more then enough men to complete the task and if they kept working as they were now, the whole thing would be done in a few more weeks. Hux had not been idle in Ren’s absence. 

There was little to no news about the supreme leader’s progress in hunting down the last of the rebels. The head of propaganda for the Order had been harassing Hux relentlessly for weeks now trying to get information out of him. Hux was irritated but understood the man’s concern. The galaxy wanted to see their new leader, wanted to be introduced to this new man who had killed Snoke- a being no one had thought possible to kill. Every day Ren delayed making an appearance the greater the anticipation would be. Every day there were knew speculations about what the new emperor would be like. Hux had grown so tired of watching some of the ridiculous reports the galactic press aired that he had given up watching any news at all. The galaxy was fixated on the dark haired man. Word had spread quickly of his strength with the force and soon his exploits were common knowledge. Hux had thought it amusing at first how completely wrong everyone was about Kylo Ren. Half of the things they attributed to him had either never even happened or were Hux’s own victories. After a while though, it was more sickening then anything else. 

There were no clear photos of the supreme leader without his mask, so instead commentators did their best with the grainy images of the tall, dark haired man with his scarlet saber. Video feeds of Ren hacking his way through the Orders enemies were streamed on thousands of outlets. Hux recognized the footage. It was from the early days of their co-command. Ren had stormed a rebel base on some deserted moon. He had slaughtered everyone. The bases security cameras had recorded the whole thing. It was strange now seeing Ren’s face masked. Hux could not help but think that it had been such a terrible waste. Yes, it was breathtaking to watch the new supreme leader fight. He was a force of nature, a tempest in black robes. Yet, the footage might have been something different entirely if the galaxy could have seen the man’s face. Hux could imagine it in perfect detail. In place of that ridiculous mask would be Ren’s handsome face. Dark hair would gleam under the red glow of the flashing warning lights of the rebel base. Those hungry, dark, eyes that haunted Hux in his dreams would be there for all to see. His plush lips and aristocratic features would be set in a cool look of determination. Ren without his mask was a propagandists’ dream. Wild, ferocious and unstoppable. Royal by blood, Vader’s Heir, a prince and a soldier. He was a far cry from Snoke. That grotesque old monster could inspire terror, but Kylo- Kylo the galaxy could fall in love with. 

It was strange to think how complete Kylo’s victory over him had been. Hux, who had been so cunning bested by a man he had thought to be an idiotic brute. A tool to be used. Yet, now Kylo stood poised in exactly the position Hux had so long thought might be his. The young, handsome man that the galaxy so desperately wanted to rule it. Some days it made him laugh with something approaching mania, others it simply made him tired. Most days he didn’t think about it at all. 

He knew that soon Ren would return and whatever peace he had found here would vanish. Yet, something within him longed for Ren to come back. Things were too easy without him, too clean. When given the chance to work alone the general found that he missed the challenge of his old rival. He had never thought he would miss Ren’s brutality, but some nights, night when he accepted the invitations and watched Ren’s new subjects vie for his favor, he truly did. Ren did not bow. Ren forced him to his knees with his power and drew his blood with his hands and his knife. 

Hux missed Ren. He must be losing his mind. 

The general came to a stop. He had been so trapped in his thoughts that he had not known where his feet were carrying him. The red haired man found himself in the vast throne room. It was a beautiful room especially now as the sun began to die, bleeding in red and orange across the horizon. The ceiling was made of the finest, crystal glass. It reflected the light, bouncing it around the walls so that the whole chamber sparkled like diamond. The ceiling were vaulted, nearly forty feet high. The glass, though it looked fragile, would withstand a blast from a plasma cannon. It had needed to be imported from the outer rim but it had been worth it. Flowers lined the walls. Red and white blossoms filled the air with a sweet perfume. They had not been his choice. Hux had been content with a room of diamond, stone, and steel but one of the contractors from Theed had insisted. Hux had been uncertain but now he found that he was quite alright with the addition. It added life to the room, softening its cold beauty with something of the earth. Besides, if it would help to further win over the citizens of the planet then it was fine with him. The more the people of Naboo felt that they were part of this new empire the better. 

Hux continued to walk through the vast room, lost in the beauty around him. The throne room had been the last to be completed, yet it was by far his favorite. Some nights, after all the workers (painters, decorators, gardeners, etc.) had gone he would come and walk through the slowly filling halls of the palace, always coming to a stop at the throne room. Most nights he would simply look through the large doors that lead through the entrance way, but some nights he would venture in.   
The final pieces of the throne room had been installed a few days ago, bur Hux had not been able to bring himself to see them. There was something too inevitable about seeing the throne on which he would never get to sit, at least not alone. 

With a sigh he raised his eyes to the back wall. The end of the throne room curved into a circle, the ceiling turning from the vaulted pinnacle to a dome. Directly under the center of the dome on a dais of purest black stone sat a large throne. Red and white banners with he symbol of the order hung behind it, flowing in the gentle draft that swept though the cavernous room. The throne was carved from a single piece of black crystal brought all the way from the edge of the galaxy. It glittered as the last flares of the setting sun hit it. It was not sleek or smooth, but brutal and jagged. Everything about it reminded him of the raw power of nature, the solidity of solid rock. It was breathtaking.It reminded the general of the man who would shortly sit upon it. 

Without thinking he ran his fingers over the now healed cut on his palm. Not a night passed that he did not spend some time looking at it. There were times when he could swear he felt blood rushing from the wound, or heat like that of Ren’s saber radiating from it. He knew it was all in his head, just the silly ramblings of a tired, overworked mind, but part of him always wondered it if was real. 

He had noticed that, while no one dared say anything, a few of the naboo who he frequently spoke to always looked at him strangely if they caught a glimpse of the mark. If they knew what it meant they kept quiet about it. He had even seen a few of them whispering about it when they thought he wasn’t paying attention. Armitage Hux was always paying attention. From then on he had taken care to wear gloves in public. However, his hands were currently bare. He saw no reason to wear his regulation uniform when off-duty. 

He approached the throne carefully. The soles of his boots tapping gently against the polished floor. The sound echoed slightly, but he was not worried. There would be none hear to watch him as he drew closer to the object of his desire. Without Ren there was not yet a need for staff yet and all the work that remained was far away from this part of the palace. Hux was alone. He stepped gently onto the dais, climbing the black stairs that lead to the throne. He came to a stop in front of it suddenly unsure. 

He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the dark rock. Hux saw a young, red haired man. Attractive in a delicate and conscious way. The reflection looked tall and lithe in his slim black trousers and soft black leather boots. His hair was tousled, strands falling over his bright eyes in a decidedly non regulation style. Instead his normal black uniform jacket he wore a light, white shirt. His black coat hung over his shoulders like a cape. The man looking back at him did not much resemble General Hux of the first order. In fact, he looked almost like someone else entirely. 

As he scrutinized the reflection, something shifted and the man before him changed. Suddenly his reflection was dressed in a uniform of pure white, a crown upon his head. His hair was longer, stubble appearing on his face. Had he not recognized himself at first, he certainly didn’t now. The man looking back at him was something painfully new. 

He was an emperor. 

Hux reached out a hand, moving to run his fingers across the illusion. He hoped it would vanish like a reflection in a pool of water would when ripples overtook it. However, it was as his fingers brushed against the cool crystal that he became aware of the eyes on his back. 

Hux whipped around to see Kylo Ren, covered in the red splatters of blood, hair matted with more of the same staring at him through hooded eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

“Ren,” Hux whispered. His voice was a shocked whisper, eyes wide. Hux had clearly completely failed to sense his presence, despite the fact that Kylo had been watching him from the moment he set foot in the throne room. The dark haired man had arrived only an hour ago. Wanting to avoid the fact that soon he would finally be making his first appearance as ruler of the planet and the galaxy itself, he had slipped away when his shuttle landed. It had been strange to finally set foot on the world that had been home to his ancestors. It was here that his grandparents had fallen in love. Something about that realization felt strangely important to him, though he did not know why. He had seen the outline of the palace from the landing bay. The sun was setting, casting brilliant shards of light to reflect off of what appeared to be a structure made entirely of glass. Without thinking Kylo had swept off, leaving his men to attend to what ever matters needed attending with Hux’s unit. They could report back to him later. 

He had not bothered to wash himself of the blood and sweat that still clung to his body. Kylo would not admit it but he relished the flecks of red that he could feel slowly drying against his warm skin. It reminded him of the relief that came from a hard training session or a good fuck. Although in recent years he had enjoyed far more of the former then the latter. He loved the way he could feel his muscles relax. The tension he kept curled up within him seeping into nothing. He felt good. 

Standing in the throne room his former enemy had build for him, he felt even better. Hux had outdone himself. The polished black floors, the glittering walls and ceilings, the red and white banners- it was glorious. The throne was magnificent. A far cry from the overwrought one Snoke had sat on before Kylo separated his chest from his legs. This was something of pure, elemental beauty. As he stood to the side and watched the red sunlight fall through the glass around him he wondered if Hux had though of him when he requested it. There was doubt in Kylo’s mind that all of this was Hux’s doing. It had that simple elegance that Hux prided himself on. While what he had seen from the entrance hall had touches of Naboo, this room, this temple to their new government was all Hux- all order. 

Over the course of the past few months he had, though he would die before admitting it, missed the general. It had been wonderful at first, finally being able to do as he pleased without Snoke looming over him or Hux making snide comments. Yet, the novelty had quickly worn off. The men had quickly become accustomed to how he like things, and once he had purged the command of those who he thought might cross him there had been nothing but smooth sailing. After a month of everyone simply agreeing with him, he had begin to miss Hux. The general’s nasty comments and constant undermining had always been an irritation, but without it Kylo felt almost like he was missing something. Hux was afraid of his power the same as the rest of them, but he was not afraid to challenge him even now that their roles had been so changed. The man couldn’t help himself. Even when he thought Hux was just about to finally submit, the red head would chose to fight back. The general had the backbone that the rest of the order and the galaxy clearly lacked. No one else dared stand up to him now. Another reason why Kylo planned on keeping the man around. 

More than that, Kylo found his mind constantly wandering to the other man. He had told Hux to make nightly reports on the progress not because he doubted him, but merely as another means of asserting dominance over the other man. He soon wished he had not requested it in the first place. Every night when he returned to his quarters, yet another blow dealt to what remained of the residence the message from Hux would be waiting for him. The little blue hologram did not due Hux justice, but even in the low resolution Kylo thought the man looked better each day. he looked healthier, more relaxed, and though he put on a show of being the same man he had been on the finalizer- he simply wasn’t. 

The messages never failed to take Kylo back to the conference room and before that to the night in his chambers. To deny that it aroused him to see how badly Hux clearly wanted him would be a flat out lie. Hux’s blatant admiration for his physical beauty and power did exactly that. Long years of training had taught Kylo not to be a slave to his desires and yet with Hux it was harder then it had ever been. 

During the long weeks they spent apart, Kylo had toyed with the idea of taking Hux as his. He could make him consort or whatever such nonsense was required to keep Hux forever at his side. Yet, he knew that nothing would come of such ideas. They were merely fantasies. The Hux in his imagination was submissive, loyal, and devoted only to him and their cause. Real men, as Kylo well knew, were far more complex then imaginary ones. He knew that no matter how hard he pressed it would be impossible for him to force the man into complete submission. Hux’s loyalty- his true, unconditional loyalty, his love- would have to be won. The red headed general would have to chose to give it to him in the end. 

He had felt the possibility of this in the force when they had bonded. He had since had visions of what they might be if Hux would give up his ambition and instead devote himself to him. If the two of them became one. He had scoffed at the idea. They were too different. Kylo certainly had no plans of sharing anything with Hux, except perhaps his bed. 

The real Hux, though sworn to loyalty, was not yet anywhere near that level of readiness to accept the state of things. No matter how much the general might get off on being forced to submit when they were alone, Hux still thought to rule at Kylo’s side. Ren doubted the general would take to the idea of sitting at the emperor’s feet instead. 

Kylo stalked forward, intending to sit upon the throne, feeling it was necessary to complete the swell of victory he felt within himself. It was then that he sensed someone coming towards him. It did not take more then a second before he realized who it was. No one else would dare enter this place while the Supreme Leader was absent. 

When Kylo had heard the approaching steps and caught the fine whispers of Hux’s thoughts he had first thought to alert the general to his presence. He considered completing his progress and sitting resplendent on the his new throne, still bathed in blood. Kylo imagined the effect it would have on the red haired man. There was no doubt in his mind as to why Hux was here. The general probably came here every night to indulge some masochistic tendency by looking at all that might have been his, but was now Kylo’s. He longed to see the look on the Genera’s pretty little face as he looked up at his new ruler. However, seeing Hux the way had been to seductive to pass up. The red haired man had been so open in his expressions, something which Kylo had not known him to be capable of. Kylo had been watching from the shadows for some time, enjoying the way the red and orange glow of sunset had made the general’s hair shine. So, Kylo melted back into the shadows, biding his time. The knight had never seen his old rival like this. The Hux he knew was always so straight laced, stick shoved firmly up his ass. In fact, Kylo did not think he had ever seen the general without his uniform before now. The black first order uniform added bulk and made his pale skin looks pinched and pasty. Now, in this more relaxed ensemble Kylo could see the gentle slope of lean muscle. His pretty hair, so often slicked back in that ridiculous style, was loose falling across his face in a pleasing way. This creature was infinitely more appealing to him than the General had ever been. Had Kylo been a sentimental man he might have wondered what it was that had transformed the general into this thing before him. But he wasn’t and he didn’t. Instead he watched from the shadow, eyes trailing Hux like a jaguar’s would follow its prey. 

Hux had a dancers grace about him. Slim and lithe. No wonder even though they were of a height Hux’s thoughts always drifted towards his bulk. True Kylo was built of solid muscle. His shoulders were broader then Hux’s, his hands larger, but he had never really thought about it until he realized the effect it had on the slim man before him. Hux both relished and feared the fact that even without the force Kylo could destroy him. 

Alas, the time for observance was now over. 

Kylo allowed a moment of silence to stretch as the last rays of sunlight vanished below the horizon. He could practically smell the fear as it swelled within Hux. 

When Kylo had seen those delicate fingers poised to brush against the throne, all thoughts of “Hux’s loyalty needing to be won” vanished. Much as he had in the conference room, all rational thought of needing Hux on his side were replaced with the need to put him in his place. But, all things considered, he had never been able to control himself around Hux. This had been true on the finalizer, and it was true now. Hux made him feel like no one else could. God he had missed this. 

Kylo stepped forward lazily. He delighted in the way Hux shrunk backwards. Kylo intended to savor the submission while it lasted before Hux had time to pull on that haughty veneer of his.  
The general was still too shocked to realize what he was doing. He had been so deeply lost in his thoughts. He could see the possible scenarios playing out in the man’s mind as he stalked towards him. Most of them ended with Hux’s head being separated from his shoulders with a ruby blade. In Hux’s mind he saw himself draw closer, blood spattered and half mad. He saw the blade of his saber ignite. He could not help but smile at that. Despite what Hux thought, Kylo had no plan to hurt him. No, the dark haired man merely intended to have some fun.  
“Hux. We’ve talked about this,” he purred. He had often heard Hux think about his voice- how lovely and rich it was. So, he decided to use it. “You know what to call me. Does it still pain you after all this time to accept that his is how it is going to be?” 

Hux looked caught, trapped like an animal that knew it had no chance of escape.  
“Sorry, Supreme Leader.”  
“I had expected you to great me at the landing pad. Your absence was noted. General Kahn in particular was quick to point it out.”  
Hux twitched. Kylo smirked. He had known Hux would hate that. Yet another reminder that he had been left here while another had gone with Kylo to destroy the rebels. Never mind that Kylo had left Hux here because this was by far the more delicate mission, that requited the most ingenuity and trust. If hux hadn’t realized that then Kylo was in no mood to disillusion him.  
“Supreme Leader. I apologize for my absence. I… I was not expecting you,” Hux whispered.  
“Clearly,” Ren inclined his head to the hand Hux still had laid against the cool crystal of his throne, “But here I am, and,” he took another step closer, closing the distance between them, “here you are…putting your hands on my things. Didn’t your mother ever teach you that you shouldn’t touch what isn’t yours, Hux?” Ren ran a finger along hux’s jaw, delighting in the shiver he felt run through the other man. 

Hux looked astonishing. His sea glass eyes were narrowed but still slick and shining with dazed shocked. Pink lips had fallen open in an “o” as Kylo leaned in once again. Ren knew he must smell like death incarnate. The drying and dried remains of blood coating his skin, sweat that had long grown tepid, the stench of the burnt flesh he had torn apart with his saber. If Hux was bothered by it he made no indication. “I asked you a question, Hux,” he growled warningly. 

The dazed expression vanished, replaced by the bastard Ren knew too well. Ren was pleased. It was so much more fun to smack Hux down. The submission was so much more intoxicating when it was won. Hux whispered his answer, but the sound seemed to reverberate around them in the empty hall. “No, supreme leader. She didn’t. I never knew her.” The words were gritted out through clenched a jaw. There was so much fire in him, Ren mused. 

“That’s right,” Kylo purred, “I remember now. You come from nothing. A ratty little backwater planet, isn’t that right.” Hux was silent. “Be a good boy and answer me when I speak to you, Hux,” he growled. The metal was back in Hux’s face. The beautiful young stranger replaced with the general. “Yes, Supreme Leader. I come from nothing.” Kylo could not let that stand. He would not allow Hux to walk away from this composed and cold. He wanted to make the general shudder again.  
He thought back to the way Hux had looked at him in the conference room. The way the man had shuddered when Kylo pulled him close, hands around his neck. He smiled dangerously at the thought, before continuing to speak. He made sure to keep his voice low and even as he pushed closer.  
“And yet here you stand, surrounded by all this,” he gestured to the room around them, though he never broke their eye contact, “and imagine it belonging to you, don’t you? You. Did you really think you could do it, that they would follow you? The blood of Queens runs thought me, I am Vader’s heir, grandson of Queen Amidala, I would even be prince of Adleraan if it hadn’t been turned to dust, and I still have had to bloody my hands to win this.” He grabbed Hux by the jaw, tipping the red haired man’s head back. His large hands made Hux’s face look so small and delicate. Kylo used his other hand to push the general back against the arm of the throne, slotting a thick thigh between Hux’s legs, crowding him against the harsh rock. 

The shift was almost immediate. It was so easy. Hux’s breath sped up, growing shallower. His pupils blew up, nearly blotting out those blue green eyes. Kylo reasoned that Hux had brought this upon himself. Had he not been mentally shouting his every thought whenever they were alone, Kylo would not have known what buttons to press. What made it so much more perfect was how much Hux hated it- despising his utter lack of self control. He could feel the waves of shame radiating off of the red haired man. Yet, despite this the red head did not shrink away from him, instead he subtly angled himself forward into Kylo’s body. Ren could feel the desperate way Hux longed to give in to the pull of desire he so desperately wanted to deny. Now though, the press of muscle against him proved to hard for even the general to resist.  
“Even more, I have had to involve you to win it. What chance would you alone have? You. Are you even capable of getting your hands dirty?”  
Hux did not answer, in fact it seemed as if the general was having a hard enough time remembering to breathe. Kylo had won, but he could not stop himself from pressing his victory just a little bit further. He leaned even closer, taking up what little space remained between them. Putting his lips delicately against Hux’s ear he began to speak again, reaching out with the force so he could feel every tremor no matter how minute that ran through the other man’s body and soul. “Remember Hux, the only way you will ever touch this throne again is if I bend you over it. But, you wouldn’t mind that would you, Hux? ” To add insult to injury he flicked out his tongue, running it against the generals ear before pulling back to watch the slim man’s face contort. “Your practically panting for it aren’t you? Beg prettily enough for me and I might make those fantasies of yours real.” 

He saw the thoughts rush through Hux’s mind, reveling in the detail. He saw him make good on his threats to bend Hux over. Watched himself kick the red haired man’s legs apart, press against him. Kylo felt the rush of violent arousal course through the smaller man. He was almost upset when he felt the general clamp down on it. Hux thought he was toying with him. It was all right there in his head. The general thought Kylo had discovered his feelings and decided to use them against him- to humiliate him. Hux was partially right, but he had missed something. He had missed the fact that Kylo was just as interested as Hux was. Although he had no desire to alert the other man to this fact.   
‘You’re sick,” hux hissed, voice full of venom. Kylo watched with satisfaction as the general’s eyes burned with equal parts desire and hatred. 

“Maybe, but so are you. After all, all I’ve offered is to make your twisted little fantasy a reality. So, which of us is really the sick one, Hux?” Kylo leaned back, appreciating the wreck of a man before him. He savored it a second longer before pulling completely away from Hux. The mans’ face was frozen in a contorted mask of anger, shame, frustration, and something else Kylo could not place.  
“Come, show me what you have done in my absence. I hope for your sake that you have not been idle.” He stepped back, waiting for Hux to pull himself together. The general rose to his feet, stabilizing himself. In a second, the red haired man had swept past Kylo, walking down the long hall. Kylo smirked once more before moving to follow him. God he had missed this. He had missed them. As angry as Hux was, as humiliated as the other man felt, Kylo could sense that the other man had missed it too- the chaos they made together. The violent tension that hummed between them was intoxicating to them both. Hux may have even missed it more. 

Together they crossed the large expanse of the throne room and headed out into the main palace. Two figures, one in black, the other in purest white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might be a couple of days before the last chapter. This one took a lot longer then I had expected and I'm trying to reevaluate where this dynamic goes from here. Thank you for your patience and I hope you continue to enjoy it!


	7. Chapter 7

Hux sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked at himself in the mirror. His red hair had grown a little too long to be considered regulation any more. The stubble on his cheeks was begging to resemble more of a beard then the scruff it had been a day or so ago. He almost didn’t recognize himself these days. The red head looked handsome in windswept, rugged way that he had never managed when Snoke was alive.

Earlier that day Ren had finally officially named him first minister and chief advisor. In about an hours time a party was being held in honor of the event, hosted by a well off trader named Milo Sarn. Hux had met the man in his early days of campaigning for Ren before the supreme leader had returned from his hunt. Hux had enjoyed Sarn’s quick wit and dry humor and the two of them had become fast friends. It was strange to him even now. Hux had never really had a friend before. Those near him had always been competitors. There had been a time when Ren was first appointed his co-commander that Hux had held out hope that at last he might have found someone to confide with, but that had clearly been abandoned.

Sarn was different. He had thought at first that the man simply sought influence with him, but after nearly half a year of getting to know him, Hux had realized Sarn desired nothing of the sort. The trader, like Hux had come from nothing. He had pulled himself up the ladder of society with nothin but his own determination and ambition. Hux had a sneaking suspicion that the man harbored some deeper feelings for him. However, that was not something he had the mental bandwidth to think about right now. 

Hux had returned to his chambers after the confirmation to find a set of clothes waiting for him on his bed. They had been expertly crafted and were clearly quite expensive. There was a tunic, with tasteful but intricate embroidery running down the sleeves in inky black lines. A pair of matching slacks were included along with a cape and a new pair of gloves. Every item was a bloody crimson. Even the gloves were made of leather in the same hue. Hux suspend that the outfit was a gift from Sarn. The dark eyed, handsome man had been known to send Hux the occasional gift. He would often return from his travels with something he thought Hux would appreciate: books, liquor, trinkets of all shapes and sizess. The gifts had started out small but gotten increasingly larger and more elaborate. This was precisely the kind of thing he would pick out. It had always been a particular joke between them that Hux had an allergy to wearing color of any sort. 

Hux had no real issue with wearing color, it was merely that he had never had any reason to. 

The order’s uniform had been the only thing he had worn for a very long time. The finalizer had always been swarming with the blacks, reds, and whites of the order. The officers and bridge crew in black, troopers in white, guards in red. It was efficient to a fault. It had been strange at first seeing how brightly dressed everyone in Theed seemed to be. They looked like a flock of tropical birds to him. Despite Sarn’s protests he had stuck to his uniform of black and white for a few months, until the man had turned up at his door with a tailor and forced him to get some new things made.

“You can’t walk around looking like your about to attend a funeral, Huxy,” Sarn had exclaimed. He had replied that he damn well could if he wanted to, but he had eventually given in to his friends pleas. Hux had however been very clear that he wanted none of that ridiculous stuff he saw some of the citizens wearing. No weird makeup or ridiculously impractical hair. 

The next week the clothes had arrived. He had not intended to wear them anywhere but to his weekly dinners with Sarn, but that quickly changed. One day he had been about to go meet Sarn for dinner when a messenger had appeared calling Hux to an emergency cabinet meeting. Not thinking to change, Hux ran out of his room wearing one of Sarn’s outfits. When he had appeared in the council room, a cavernous hall of glass and stone, in a tunic and pants of pale purple, the effect had been incredible. Ren had nearly chocked on the tea he had been drinking. The dark haired man had stared at him for a solid minute before getting back to business. Before he regained his composure, the look on the force wielder’s face had been priceless. Even as the meeting went on Hux could feel the supreme leader’s eyes on him, taking him in. 

It was exhilarating to see the supreme leader so caught off guard.   
Whenever they were alone Kylo always managed to get the upper hand- knocking Hux off balance. So finally seeing the roles reversed had been to tempting to resist. Since that day Hux had made a point of wearing his more colorful clothes to every meeting with Ren. Yes, he had not been able to make him choke on his drink again, but even catching him slightly off guard was worth it. 

Upon discovering the clothes Hux had put them on slowly, making sure not to wrinkle the soft fabric. When at last he finished securing the cape so that it would hang gently from his left shoulder he went to the mirror. Ren had given him a large set of rooms close to his personal wing. It had been decided that it was only fitting that the second in command should be given the second largest apartments. However, Hux suspected that the proximity was more so that Ren could barge in whenever he wanted without having to walk across the whole palace. Hux would often come back from meetings to find Ren waiting for him. In public or in the presence of the other ministers (all of whom had been chosen by Hux) Ren was a fair and intelligent leader. He was a deft tactician, though not nearly as good as Hux, and could even be persuaded to admit when Hux was right and he was not. In council, he would make shrewd decisions and almost always chose the path Hux agreed to be the best. They were a perfect team. Hux would offer strategies and Ren would find ways to sharpen them. Their different skills, Hux’s cold patience and Ren’s decisive aggression tempered one another. However, the minute they were alone Hux felt as though whatever equality he had won with Ren vanished. They would slip back into their old dynamic. Hux would push and Ren would snap, forcing him into capitulation with a combination of physicality and biting words. 

The general knew that it could stop. All he had to do, at any point in time was simply to stop pushing back, but he didn’t want to. He loved the way Kylo would trap him, with the force or that ridiculous body of his. As little as he would like to admit it, the hatred he had felt for the other man had long since burned away into nothing. 

Kylo was simply releasing his irritation on Hux. The general understood why. These days it all seemed to be coming to easily to them. Hux had known the galaxy was tired to the endless struggles- that they craved order and piece. Yet, even he had not anticipated how little push back they would experience. That was a part of why he craved what Kylo gave him. Kylo was the only one left it seemed who wanted to fight. 

He was sure Kylo kept returning to him for very similar reasons. Hux could not imagine what it was like. Kylo Ren had spent his whole life fighting, just as Hux had. He had been used to beating the world into submission. Now, most of it welcomed him with open arms. Hux was probably the last person in the galaxy- outside of what few rebels remained- who refused to bow to him. If the challenge Kylo offered him was exquisite, then the fight he offered Kylo must have been intoxicating. 

The problem was that Hux wanted Kylo for more then just a release of tension. He knew these little encounters, no matter how alive they made him feel were slowly going to drive him mad. To have Kylo so close and yet to always have the dark haired man pull away at the last second was driving him insane. Yet, Hux knew he could not simply reach out and tell Kylo what he wanted. No. Because if Kylo did not feel the same, which he most certainly didn’t, then Hux would break the spell and what little chance he had to be held in the supreme leader’s arms would vanish. It was because of this that as of late he spent as little time as possible in his chambers in the palace. Whenever possible he would spend his nights in a spare room in Sarn’s apartments in the city. It was only a short walk away from the palace and worth the effort if it meant keeping his sanity. 

If Ren cared that Hux spent his free time, as limited as it was, with the trader then he said nothing of it. Ren would be pleased as long as their work progressed and there cause was advanced. Hux was certain that outside of occasionally wanting to toy with him, the way a lion might with its prey, Ren was actually quite content with the state of things. 

The same could not be said for Hux. Yes, it was gratifying to see order sweep across the galaxy and to see the effect that's policies had on sweeping away the corruption that had so long destroyed the republics old and new. He was even happy to work with Ren and to receive the things the other man had promised him in return for his loyalty. Just as Ren had promised, Hux was his chief advisor, his prime minister. He wielded almost all the influence he had desired when they had come to that first agreement. Yet, there was one thing that even now gnawed at the edges of his soul. 

Slowly but surely, despite how insane he must truly be to think so, Hux knew he was falling in love with Ren. Perhaps love might not have been the right word, but it was the only word in any language he knew that even came close to describing what he felt. Perhaps he had always felt this way. If that was so it was only growing worse with each passing day. What had been a dull want- purely physical had turned into something so much worse. Yes, he still wanted Ren but now he longed for more. He wanted Ren to crave him they way he did the supreme leader. Ren had not only won his body, but his admiration as well. If only Ren would be willing to take them. Hux was ready to give all he had to this man, even though he knew it was crazy. 

Kylo did not feel the same way about him. If Kylo ever chose to make good on his threats of intimacy it would be purely physical. An expression of his physical power over Hux, nothing more. Hux was certain that while the knight might be willing to finally progress to the next step of whatever was between them it would merely be to scratch an itch. There would be no feelings only sex. The last step in his journey of securing dominance over his old rival. In his low moments, late at night when he had had too much to drink, he would consider crossing the short distance to Ren’s doors and offering himself. He thought that perhaps that once it was over whatever he thought he was feeling would dissipate. But, Hux was no fool. He knew that if he got his wish and then Ren threw him aside, as he would undoubtedly do, it might break him. So he decided to let himself slowly break down rather in silence. 

The clothes fit perfectly. It was no surprise, Sarn had all his measurements. Hux smiled. He would thank Sarn at the party. After taking a last look in the mirror to make sure all was in place, Hux stepped out of his rooms and into the halls of the palace.


	8. Chapter 8

Hux stood at the top of the stairs, resplendent in his new crimson attire. The only thing separating him from the crowd within was a pair of large black doors. He could hear the cheerful chattering behind them. There was a loud pop as a cork was removed from a bottle, and a strain of laughter at a joke someone had told. 

Hux had never liked parties. It was not that he was completely incapable of enjoying them, merely that given the choice between a night alone with a book and a glass of brandy and a party, it was hardly a choice. With a sigh he nodded to the footmen who pushed open the doors. When they opened he saw the entirely of first order and naboo elite waiting for him. They turned and clapped for him as he made his descent towards the ballroom floor below. He knew he must cut an incredible figure. He had always been tall, not as tall as Ren, but always a head or so above the rest of his peers. Dressed as he was in his monochromatic attire he looked even more distinct. He noticed quite a few eyes tracing up and down his lean body as he made his way towards the foot of the stairs. Milo came running up to him. His longish dark hair flopping amusingly. He was dressed in a blue. It complimented the sun kissed glow of his skin. 

Hux smiled at his friend. Milo pulled him into an embrace before turning around to address their audience. “Well, look who finally decided to show up,” Sarn chuckled amiably. There was a light round of laughter. “Ladies and Gentlemen it is my pleasure to present the newly confirmed first minister- General Armitage Hux. My good friend and the man whom we have to thank for the boom we have all recently experienced. It was his plan which brought life and vibrance back to Theed and soon will bring more of the same to the rest of the galaxy.” Milo swept an arm around his shoulders as he spoke. The contact was not unusual to Hux now as it had been at first. Sarn had a habit of touching him casually like this. On the finalizer Hux would have had anyone who dared be so familiar with him thrown out of an airlock, but now he merely smiled. “Please, pay no attention to this drunk fool. Though he is kind, these triumphs belong to the order and to our supreme leader and soon to be emperor, Kylo Ren,’ Hux responded lightly. It was true enough. Though many of these reforms had been Hux’s ideas, Ren had added to many of them himself. He had filled the parts that Hux had missed and even made a suggestions that had proved wonderfully effective. Sarn merely smiled before raising the glass he held in his right hand. “Now, before you get back to drinking up all my liquor, I’d like to propose a toast to the man of the hour.” 

Hux watched as the room collectively quieted and everyone raised their glasses. A servant came forward, presenting Hux with a glass of his own. He took it gently. Milo turned in towards him, looking at him with a pair of soulful brown eyes. ‘To Armitage Hux, may he continue to bring order and prosperity to the galaxy as long as he lives.” A smile played across his full lips as he looked at Hux before turning back to the crowd. There was a swell of “Here, Here’s” and “Gods willing” and then the party started up again. 

“Come on,” Milo said, removing his arm from Hux’s shoulders and dragging him towards the bar. They walked past the platform where a band was playing. The music was something classical he had never heard before, but the gentle rythym of it was pleasing enough. As they made their way though the crowd they were stopped on multiple occasions as everyone who was anyone stopped to offer their congratulations. Hux accepted them all with his most charming smiles and measured words. A few times he was asked if the supreme leader would be making an appearance. Each time he politely said that he had no idea. 

Hux was well aware that Sarn had invited Ren, but Kylo very rarely frequented gatherings like this. Like Hux, he would never seek out such functions, but if he was required to go he would make an event of it. It had been fascinating and somewhat horrifying to watch the shift in Ren’s demeanor on the few occasions they had attended the same event. Ren changed before his eyes from the violent, predator, to a charming leader. He smiled more openly, his eyes sparkling. It was a far cry from the man Hux sometimes met when Ren came to him in his chambers. This man was smooth and sophisticated, not the rough force of nature he was with Hux. It was incredible. Once he had spent the whole evening simply watching Kylo work the crowd at a ball held in his honor. Ren had been striking in a set of black robes, trimmed with deep red embroidery. The scar on his face gave him a wild handsome look. His hair had been tied back in a knot behind his head. Hux had wanted to walk over and set it loose. He much preferred seeing the longish hair down, framing that angular face. 

Hux thought that this must be some remnant of Ben Organa rising to the surface. There was no doubt in his mind that Leia would have ensured that her son was just as effective as her at drumming up money and support for the rebellion. Perhaps that was why Ren didn’t like gatherings like this. Hux wondered how many he had been dragged to as a young man. Ren would have no reason to appear at something like this now. There was no political gain to be had. 

When at last they had made their way to the bar he let out a loud sigh. Milo merely smiled, reaching over the counter to pour his friend a drink. 

Hux took the offered conception gratefully. “Thank you.” Milo shook of the thanks with a wave of his hand. “No problem. You needed it after all the questioning you just endured.” Hux smiled. He took a minute to look at his friends handsome face. Milo was incredibly good looking. His interest in Hux was something which Hux found incredibly strange. The trader could be with anyone he wanted and yet he cared for Hux more then anyone had ever cared for him. It made his heart race.  
“Believe me, that was not nearly as bad as it could have been. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to come tonight,” he said dryly.  
Milo turned, leaning his back against the bar as he looked over the crowd. “They aren’t always this bad. Its the proximately to power that makes them insufferable. With this new promotion they'll all be trying to get into your good books. Never mind that we both know this is only a title to make official what has been since you first came here.” Hux sighed, turning towards Milo and taking another sip of his drink. This was one of the many things that drew Hux to him. Sarn was incredibly intelligent. He was not easily taken in and had quickly guessed that though Hux had no real title until today that he was the true second in command.  
“True, but the title is not without its extra perks.”  
Hux smiled devilishly and watched as Milo laughed. The dark haired man was very open but especially so when he laughed. He had a loud, deep, laugh. It was carefree and lovely. When at last his laughter had abated, Sarn spoke, grabbing Hux’s hand and giving it a light kiss. “ Well, when the line to kiss your ass starts to form at least let me be the first in line.” 

Now it was Hux’s turn to laugh. “ Of course, Milo. There is no one else I would prefer to be the first to kiss my ass.” Milo leered down at him. “Promises, Promises.”

They sat in amicable silence for a few minutes before Milo spoke again. “Speaking of ass kissing, when are the delegates arriving for the coronation.”  
Hux sighed, whatever happiness he had felt vanishing at the thought of the next few days. it had been his idea, but as the day approached he began to regret it. They had invited delegates from every world now under the first order’s rule to come represent their planet at the coronation. It would provide the order with an opportunity to display their power, but also for them to see who might need to be removed. On paper it was a wonderful strategic move, in reality it had been a nightmare. As if the coronation itself wasn’t difficult enough to plan now he had to worry about the minutia of bringing so many potential threats into the palace. Ren had seen to the girl and what remained of Organa’s rebels, but that did not mean there was no danger of an attack. There would always be some who did not like the idea of a new empire. Never mind that so far Ren’s rule had stamped out corruption and poverty. He could be nothing but benevolent and there would still be someone who thought he would be better off dead. 

Hux was almost certain that someone would try something. It was what he would do. There would never be such a chance to take a shot at the new emperor. For the first and only time, Ren would be forced to be out in the open surrounded by strangers. Even with his powers Ren could not read everyones minds at once. That was why Hux had spent most of his waking hours vetting the dignitaries on the list, stationing guards, and preparing for the worst. 

Milo cleared his treat expectantly and Hux realized he must have gotten lost in his thoughts. It was a common occurrence these days. ‘Day after tomorrow. It’s going to be hell,” he groaned. Sarn, who had not let go of his hand, ran a calloused thumb along the inside of his wrist. “I’m sure it will be fine. After all, they put the best man on the job,” he smiled. Hux returned it softly. “Yes, but its still going to be a nightmare. I’ve been running around for a week trying to get everything done. Ren’s no help of course. So, everyone has been coming to me. I spent an hour today confirming flowers for the ceremony and table wear for the banquet. I never knew there were so many different types of flowers in the whole goddamn galaxy.” 

Sarn chuckled lightly at his friends frustration. “Did the Supreme Leader say anything about whether or not he would accept the invitation,” he asked. Hux turned so that he too was looking out at the crowd. The band had started to play a dance and now men and women in beautiful dresses and suits were dancing in a swirl of color. “No, but I doubt it. He doesn’t have a fondness for these sorts of things.”  
“Not even to celebrate the confirmation of his right hand man? Tell me, what took him so long to get around to this anyway. From what you told me I assumed that this was his plan all along. I would have thought this was coming months ago,” Sarn asked. His tone was joking as ever but there was something hard about his eyes. The trader had, in private of course, often mentioned how he disliked the way Ren treated Hux. Thankfully he did not know the half of it. Hux was quite certain Milo had no idea about his encounters with Ren, but if he did it would not bode well. Milo was very protective to him. At first it had been amusing, but now it caused a flush to appear on his cheeks.  
Hux looked down at his drink, watching the ice in it slowly melt. “Our relationship is…a complex one. I think he did not trust me enough at first. Now, I think we have at last moved past our…differences.” He was not lying, but something about the answer seemed false to him. Hux was sure that it was only in the past month that Ren had finally decided that Hux would be truly happy as a second in command. The general understood this. It would have taken some time indeed before he thought that Ren wasn’t going to stab him in the back and take his throne from him. The past two months had been a trial run. Hux must have proven himself at least not traitorous. Yet, to say they had moved past their differences wasn’t quite right. Yes, they still argued but the violence that at one time had simmered below such arguments was gone. It was only when they were alone that it came back with a roar and they were back where they had been years ago. Much between them had changed, but many things had also stayed the same. 

After a pause, Hux continued, eyes still locked on the melting ice. “We have reached an understanding now, I think. However, I doubt we have reached a point where he would show up to anything honoring me.”  
He could hear the smirk in Sarn’s voice when he spoke, “You sure about that, Huxy?” Hux looked up with a lazy smile on his face. “You know I hate that nickname, Sarn. If you aren’t careful I’ll,” he stopped. Hux felt the words die on his lips.  
In fact, he wasn’t alone. The whole room had come to a standstill. The double doors had swung open. Standing at the top of the stairs, dressed in a black tunic and trousers, hair loose and saber at his side was the supreme leader himself. 

Kylo looked magnificent. His clothes fit close to his body, hinting at the moment of muscles under them. The scar on his face seemed less harsh in the golden glow of the room. The beauty marks that dotted his face stood out against pale skin. The coronation was not for a few days so he did not wear a crown, nut he looked every inch an emperor now. What was more he was looking directly at Hux. 

Hux swallowed, breaking their gaze as the music began to play once more. 

For the next hour Hux watched from the bar as Kylo worked the crowd. Milo had gone to attend to his guests leaving Hux to drink away his nerves. Every once in a while, his eyes would meet Kylo’s. Something would burn through him when those brown eyes met his that made him distinctly uncomfortable. He would look away quickly as though burned, but he could feel Ren’s eyes linger on him for a few seconds after.

Ren did not lack for admirers. Nearly all of the guests came up to pay their respects at one time or another. Men and women alike batted their eyelashes at their soon to be emperor. Hux was well aware that there were many who sought to win a place at Ren’s side through marriage. Gossip rags and holofeeds alike were devoted to trying to uncover Ren’s romantic life. These never failed to make Hux angry and amused. They had no idea. He imagined how the galaxy would react to the fact that their leader got off on dominating his minster when no one else was around to see. 

Still, that did not stop them from trying. Hux watched with something that approached jealousy as Ren agreed to dance with a beautiful young woman from the crowd of admirers and social climbers. They moved gorgeously around the dance floor. Her dress was made of oranges, reds and yellows that made her look like a dancing flame as they twirled around the floor. Hux wondered where Kylo had learned to dance. Probably more of his mother’s influence. Hux tried to suppress the pang of jealousy he felt as the woman whispered something to Ren and the dark haired man laughed. 

As the dance went on Hux found his mind suddenly full of angry thoughts as the woman dropped her hands lower then was strictly necessary for this particular dance. He blotted them out with a steadily increasing amount of drinks. 

Milo had also joined the dancing. He danced with a woman in brilliant green. Milo had come over to try and pull him onto the floor a few times, but Hux had refused. He was worried what the proximity to Ren might do to him. It was fine when he was in council meetings or appointments with the man, but he had at this point had way too much to drink. If he wasn’t careful he might say or do something he might regret.

Another thing began to worry him as he watched Ren switch partners and begin the next dance. He would have been lying if he said there wasn’t a resemblance between Milo and Ren. However, seeing them now, each taking to the dance floor a horrifying realization swept through him. They were nearly identical. The two men could have been brothers. 

They both had the same, overly long dark hair. Both were tall and well built, with dark, soulful, brown eyes and long, angular faces. One of the few differences was Kylo’s scar and his beauty marks. Otherwise they might have been the same person. Hux groaned at the implications of this and downed yet another drink. By the time the song switched and both Kylo and Milo started again with new partners Hux was well and truly trashed. He watched the two men dance for a few more minutes until he couldn’t take it anymore. 

The world seemed to tighten around him as he made his way through the crowd and towards the balcony. He just managed to keep himself upright until he cleared the hall. With a last glance over his shoulder to insure no one had seen him go he stepped out into the evening. A cool night breeze brushed against his flushed skin. His mind felt a little clearer now but not by much. He was drunk and confused. 

He leaned over the balustrade and looked over the city. From here he had a fantastic view of the palace and the town around it. It truly was a beautiful sight even now in the darkness. Lights beyond number glared from the windows, flashing like stars. Preparations for the coronation had already begun. The streets below were covered in red and white banners with the first order symbol. Flowers would be put out the next day. When it was time for the ceremony every street would be lined with red and white flowers. 

He had about a solid minute of peace before he realized he was not longer alone. Hux knew who it was without even having to look up. There was only one person besides Milo who would have noticed his absence, and his friend was no doubt still busy entertaining his guests. 

“Supreme Leader, what a surprise. Milo was quite sure you were going to ignore his invitation,” he said softly, eyes still trained on the skyline. The words poured from his mouth with that hot, slow way, that only came to him when he was drunk. Each one felt heavy on his tongue. He felt rather then saw Ren draw closer, coming to stand next to him again the banister. Hux did not turn to face him. Instead he chose to keep his eyes fixed on the city before them. Their shoulders brushed gently with every breath Hux took. It was painfully wonderful. He could feel the waves of heat going off of the soon to be emperors body. Hux felt a drop of sweat run down his back. 

This choice to look away was not meant to be indifferent. Hux just couldn’t bear to look into those magnetic eyes of Ren’s right now. They were like blackholes. They never failed to draw him in and crush whatever resistance remained within his heart. Now, drunk and shaken he knew he would not be able to resist their call. Better to look away. Ren didn’t seem to mind. 

“Is that so,” Ren purred. Damn him an his lovely voice, Hux thought darkly. Even now he could not hide from the effect it had on him. “Well, it would seem that he was mistaken. I had planned on thanking you in my own way but when I came to find you I was informed you would be here tonight. In lieu of what I had planned, this seemed a fitting option.”  
Hux tried to suppress the shudder that went through his at the thought of what Kylo would consider his way of thanking him. Kylo continued. “Perhaps when the coronation is over I will take my time to thank you properly. You have been of great use to me in the past few months, Hux. I will not forget it.”

Hux could barely speak. His hands were shaking where they rested at his sides.  
“I- Thank you, Supreme Leader.” It had been three weeks since the last time they had been alone together. Another fight had turned into a vicious little power play. As Hux had knelt on the ground looking up at Ren he had come so close to telling the other man the truth. Now, with the light of the city playing delicately across Ren’s face Hux was close yet again. The alcohol flowing through his veins was also not helping. 

“I can’t help but wonder why you're out here and not inside enjoying the party in your honor,” Ren purred. 

Hux ran a hand through his hair, a particular nervous habit of his. “You could alway just read my mind and find out,” he huffed. He could here the smirk in Ren’s voice when he responded. “Yes, I could, but I don’t want to. Not tonight. I want to here it from your lips.” 

That was almost enough to get him to look up at Ren, but not quite enough. “I just needed a moment away. I think the bigger question is why you came after me, I would have thought you were having a pleasant enough time with your admirers.” He tried to keep the jealous burn out of his voice but he probably wasn’t very successful. Judging from the amused snort from Ren, he was not at all successful. 

There was another long pause as they looked out over the city that they had won together. 

“Truly, Hux. I know we have not always been…on the best of terms, I admit that many times I thought of killing you, but I am glad I did not give in…I would have been robbed of your insight.”  
Hux had a nasty retort halfway to his lips when he realized what this was. This was not another dig intended to start another power play. Ren wasn’t trying to bait him so that he could dominate him. Kylo Ren was trying to be nice. Kylo Ren was genuinely thanking him for what they had done together. Hux nearly laughed out loud, but he caught it and converted it into a strangled cough. 

When he felt one of Ren’s large hands tap him gently but firmly on the back, it turned into a full bout of coughing. When at last he had gotten himself under control he could feel the flush on his cheeks. He could feel those eyes on him as they always seemed to be of late. 

“Sometimes it feels like a dream,” Kylo said and Hux could not resist any longer. He turned his head and was immediately trapped by those eyes. Ren’s face was open and childish in a way that Hux had not seen it since he had found Kylo’s crumpled body in the snow on starkiller. “It is still hard to believe that in a few days I will be emperor, harder still to think that you, Hux will be standing there at my side. If you had told me a year ago that this was where we would end up I would have died laughing. Yet, here we are.” He had turned now to completely face Hux, leaning sideways against the railing. 

Hux was struck once more by the beauty before him. He knew he needed to respond but he had no idea what to say. Thankfully his brain was no longer part of the equation. “I wouldn’t have either. In fact, I planned on killing you when I found you in the throne room,” he blurted out. He immediately regretted it. He waited to the force choke but it didn’t come. Instead, Ren laughed. It was low and musical. He had never heard Ren laugh like this. It had only ever been those dark chuckles that hinted at violence to come. This was pure and wonderful. 

“Oh Hux. I’ve always appreciated your honesty. Even now, when you finally admit what I’ve known all along.” There was nothing but more of that pure amusement in Ren’s voice. Hux wished he could here it every second of every day from now on until eternity. 

Desperate to regain his footing Hux tried to change the subject. “Are you ready for the coronation? I know you haven't been reading those briefs I’ve been sending you.”  
“Always back to business with you, Hux,” Ren chided, “ and I have been reading them, I just don’t think the future emperor needs to spend his time looking over flower arrangements.” His hand had returned to Hux’s shoulder and the general wanted to scream. To feel Ren’s hands on him absent the threat of violence was like the purest form of sin. He wanted to have this forever and the fact that he knew he never would set his soul on fire. Ren meant nothing by it. 

He covered the agony he felt with a short laugh. “It’s a lot more then flower arrangements, Ren. If you read the briefs you would know that.” The dark haired man didn’t correct him, instead he merely smiled that soft half smile of his and leaned closer.  
The sounds of the world around them faded into nothing. All he could see or here was Kylo. “You look lovely tonight. That color suits you. I would like to see you in red more often,” Ren whispered. Each word hit him like a blow to the gut. 

Ren looked beautiful. Hux tried to think of anything else. The kindness in Ren’s words didn’t seem like a trap, another ploy to draw him out into the open and humiliate him. The implications of that were too much for his intoxicated mind. Instead the comment drew his thought back to Milo. Milo who he forgotten to thank for the clothes. Milo who was always on his side, who’s words were never traps.  
“ Thank you, Supreme Leader. They were a gift,” Hux responded at long last. He thought of the nights they spent together, or the laughter they shared. He thought of his handsome face and the way the other man always tried to cheer him up. It almost worked. 

Kylo looked at him oddly, that handsome, crooked smile already fading from his face. Hux was unsure what he had done wrong. When Kylo spoke again there was a hint of anger in his words. “I know. They were a gift from me.”  
Hux nearly choked on the air in his lungs. Before he could think his lips were already moving.“What?”  
Ren’s expression darkened. The smile was gone along and the violent sheen had returned to his eyes.  
“You seem to enjoy parading yourself around in the things that man,” he spat out those words like a curse, “ buys for you, why would you have a problem with wearing something from me.” Kylo was angry now and Hux- Hux was incredibly confused. His mind was still reeling from the revelation that Ren had bought him something. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, who had tortured him for months, tried to kill him multiple times, and generally been a force of chaos in his life had bought him a present. Now new questions were swirling to the front of Hux’s already chaotic mind.  
Did Ren…was Ren jealous? No that couldn’t be. Ren had no cause to be jealous of his relationship- friendship- his mind quickly corrected with Milo.  
“I don’t- what,” Hux choked out. The world seemed to be spinning around him, the air to thick to breath.  
Ren had drawn himself up to his full height. His voice transformed from the soothing baritone to a menacing snarl. Each syllable was bitten out in a harsh sneer. “Did you think I didn’t know? I am not as blind as you may think Hux. Your little tryst with the trader has not gone unnoticed. Was that how he bought you, with clothes and gifts? If only I had known it was so easy,” Ren snarled. 

Hux felt his mouth move, but he could barely hear the words that came from his mouth. Anger and confusion were pounding through him.  
“What are you talking about. We- We’re just friends. Besides its none of your business what I do. I don’t involve myself in your life. You have no right. What do you care,” Hux sputtered angrily. He knew he sounded unconvincing. He could barely even convince himself that there wasn’t something else between milo and himself. He had yet to officially acknowledge it, but it was there. 

Ren’s hand was back, but this time it was closed in an iron grip around hux’s wrist. Ren pulled him forwards to hiss into his chest and Hux nearly collapsed into him.  
“Don’t pretend to be naive, Hux. You should no better. I don’t like other people touching my things. Especially not good for nothing smuggler scum like that,” Ren hissed into his ear, and it was the insult that finally pushed Hux over the edge.

Before Hux knew what he was doing his hand flew up. There was a loud crack as he smacked Kylo across the face. The blow was strong enough to split the bottom of Ren’s full pout. Even as the trickle of red traced its way down Ren’s chin

There was pause, both of them stunned by the sudden turn of events and then before Kylo had time to react Hux was gone. He swept through the guests quickly making his way towards the doors. He heard Milo come after him but he did not stop. His feet had taken on a will of their own. Hux needed to get away from all of it, from both of them. A part of him wanted to take Milo’s comfort, but he knew that now whenever he looked into Sarn’s brown eyes he would only see Kylo.  
It would be just another think Kylo had taken from him. 

He ran through the city streets until at long last he made his way back to his rooms. He locked and barred the door behind him, sliding to the floor behind it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the coronation and from Kylo's point of view! I've been focusing on Hux because he doesn't have the ability to read minds which means he can be a lot more easily surprised and confused. Thanks for all the love. Your comments and Kudos mean the world to me. Enjoy!


	9. Chapter 9

Kylo had spent the whole day planning. In the hours before the official confirmation- a short ceremony in the one of the many smaller audience rooms, he had been pulling together the final touches. Despite what most of the galaxy probably thought about him he was not a fan of taking chances, and if he ever had been Kylo certainly wasn’t now. He wanted to make sure every last detail was perfect. 

He had ordered the new set of clothes for Hux the week before he informed the man of his official promotion. Kylo had them sent to his study first to ensure they were perfect. The color had been just as vivid as he imagined and he couldn’t wait to see them on his red haired general. It had been a shock at first seeing Hux out of his usual black uniform. Even though he no longer held a military role, Hux would always be a general in Ren’s mind. Still, Kylo had grown to enjoy seeing the more colorful Hux. He had taken it as a sign. Things had changed and were still changing. The future was not yet set where he and Hux were concerned. 

He knew that by now Hux thought that Kylo did not intend to honor the promise he had made to him so many months ago in his quarters. One time, when Hux had been thinking overly loudly as he often did, Kylo had noted that the red headed man thought Kylo might have actually forgotten. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

As far as he was concerned the position had been Hux’s from the moment he entrusted him with managing one of the greatest tasks of the new government. Aside from the little reports he had made every day while Kylo was gone Hux had been without supervision. Kylo had been about ready to just make the damn thing official when he had caught Hux eyeing his throne. While that had slightly shaken his faith in the man, Hux had proven himself time and time again to be a perfect counterpart. He was efficient, intelligent, and completely devoted to their cause. More then that he was completely devoted to him. 

Ren had not intruded himself on Hux’s thoughts in a while. Yet, he knew that Hux’s attraction and longing for him was no passing thing. He was confident enough in that to turn his thoughts to other things. More to the point, Hux’s thoughts about him had become more of a distraction then anything else. It was in his best interest to stay away at least in this sense. That longing he sensed never failed to twist him into something even he had grown wary of. When they were alone together it became to much to bear. He could never stop himself from reaching out, dipping his fingers in the swirling pools of Hux’s mind. 

Being alone with Hux was agony and ecstasy in one. Ecstasy because he loved the way Hux longed to be broken down before him, agony because at least in the early days, he had been plagued with the realization that he wanted more. Though he wanted, craved, and threatened, the uncertainty of what might happen next had frightened him. Kylo Ren, conqueror, the man who had slain snoke and his own parents, whose uncle had tried to murder him- had never felt on solid ground when it came to affection. 

So, when they were in council or when Hux came to audiences he stayed firmly out of the man’s head. He had enough on his mind without also adding Hux’s thoughts. In truth he had stopped searching though Hux’s mind as soon as he had felt truly confident the other man wasn’t waiting to whip out a dagger and stab him in the back. 

Running his new empire had proven to be even more complicated than even he had imagined. He had thought that between Hux and himself the work might lessen, but that had proved untrue. Even after shoving everything to do with the coronation onto the red head he still spent the greater part of his day implementing the plans he and his council had approved. 

Each day since he had taken up residence in the palace his life had fallen into a simple pattern, with the occasional exception. What filled the slots was not always simple though, in fact it was more often than not extremely complicated, but the structure remained. He would rise before the sun, practicing his forms with his saber and going through his training routines until time came for his first meeting of the day. Though the palace had a large staff, he had quickly established that he preferred to be left alone when in his private apartments. He would dress quickly and efficiently, strapping his saber to his side before setting out through the maze of corridors and passageways out into public areas. 

From there he would got from audiences to appointments. His day would end with the council meeting. Then, if he was lucky, he would get the evening to himself instead of attending some gathering or other. He spent most nights at functions with visiting governors and traders from the planets now under their dominion. It was often tiresome, putting on his most charming face for those whose cooperation he needed to continue the success of all he and Hux have worked for. There were times when he longed to simply throw them around with the force and beat them into line with his saber, but with meditation it was becoming easier to let their petty thoughts slide. 

When he had free time, he spent it in the vast gardens added to the palace by a Naboo builders suggestion, if the weather was nice. Mostly he liked to roam the gardens at night. On Hux’s suggestion a section of the vast garden was open to the public. It was, coincidentally, the most beautiful part. Walls of flowers and tress covered in fruit and blossoms framed narrow walkways. It was a place of perfect peace in the city. During the day it was almost always packed with everyone and their mother hanging about. He had debated asking to have it closed off, but had abandoned the thought as quickly as it had occurred. 

As a child he had loved the outdoors, but his mother and father had lived nomadic lives. Before being sent to live with his uncle he had spent his time in city after city. There had often been public gardens and he had been overjoyed when given the opportunity to visit them after school. The palace gardens were far more gorgeous then the ones he had visited as a child. He would not rob some other lonely child of the chance to find peace within them.   
So, when he visited the gardens he did so at night when they closed. 

On the free evenings when he did not wander the grounds he stayed in his apartments. Apartments didn’t seem like quite the right word for them though. His rooms on the finalizer had been small. He had never in his life had so much space to himself. Occasionally it still felt strange to be able to roam from room to room without ever being disturbed. But he was getting used to it. 

Hux seemed to have provided everything it was possible for him to need in the plans for Kylo’s rooms. For a while Kylo wasn’t sure if that was because Hux wanted him to be comfortable or if Hux wanted him to stay there and never come out. After dipping into the other man’s mind and seeing the feelings for him within it, he had decided on the former.   
Besides his ridiculously oversized bedroom and bathroom that could both easily accommodate seven people, there was a sitting room, library, office, training room (fully stocked with everything that had been available on the finalizer), kitchen, reception room and dining room. All of it was furnished with that elegant simplicity that Hux had filled the whole palace with. 

In his rooms the furniture was simple and comfortable, as opposed to some of the more intricate pieces in the palace. His particular favorite was a large, black, arm chair that stood in the corner of the library. He spent many a night in it planning for the future as he looked up at the stars above. That was yet another touch he was sure he owed to Hux. The study had a gigantic window inlayed into the ceiling. If he looked up, he could see the whole galaxy lit up above him. He had often desired to invite Hux here, to spend the evening drinking and talking like the old friends they decidedly were not, but might be one day. 

Hux was the ghost in every room with him, always on his mind even when he was alone in his rooms. He saw the man everywhere and in everything. It was, he had reasoned with himself, impossible not grow fixated on him. Hux had designed the place he lived in, picked out everything from the layout to that fucking chair. He was inescapable and yet not yet a fixed point. 

It had been too long since the last time Kylo had visited Hux in rooms in the dead of night, looking to feel the way only Hux could make him feel. That last time he had looked down at Hux, seen the longing and desperation in his hear and mind, he had made a decision. They could not go on like this. He could not go on like this. No matter what games they played, it was not what either of them wanted. They were merely playing the parts that Snoke had beaten into them. Kylo was sick of it. 

He could no longer bear to only have Hux in moments of violence and submission. The dark haired man had spent his whole life surrounded by these two things. He had never known the soft, gentle love that burned inside him like an illness. It disgusted him. Every part of his training- the training that had been beaten into him by Snoke- screamed that this was weakness. Men like him could never be allowed to love, Snoke would sneer, they were wired only for violence. Yet, Kylo could no longer deny what he felt for the general was more then this. 

It was hard to believe how much had changed between them. Kylo had once hated Hux, but that hatred had burned into desire stronger then he had ever felt. He had never had much occasion to consider love- finding someone to spend the rest of his life with. When he had lived with his mother and father he had been far too young to think of such things. With Skywalker the topic of relationships was completely off the table, attachments forbidden. By the time he was with Snoke he was only concerned with first trying to prove himself and then trying to survive. Now it consumed his thoughts. 

There had been many not to veiled comments from some of the other advisors about his marital status. The former minister of propaganda for the new government was dogmatic in his approach. He never failed to mention how much it would increase people approval of him if Ren married and began a family. “Young men start wars, the public will always be expecting you to want a fight, but they think fathers and husbands desire peace for their families to flourish,” he would say. “Peace has been nearly won, but more then winning it you need to project it. You need to ground yourself in the future. You need to find someone, I can even stage something for a little bit until you find someone to your liking.” Ren brushed him off each time, but he knew it was true. Soon after he took the throne an engagement would need to follow. Luckily he had someone in mind. 

His reign had not been without its violence so far. He had already had to leave a few times to put down a few factions who were upset with the new order of things. At Hux’s suggestion they had appointed regional governors throughout their territories. On planets where the general feeling towards them was good they had picked them from within, on more hostile worlds they had sent officers of the order. In this way the hostile worlds felt as though not everything was being changed against there will. This was merely temporary. Hux had pointed out and Ren was painfully aware that longevity in a position almost always lead to corruption. They had spent this afternoons council meeting discussing the standards and reviews that would be put in place to keep the governors in line. 

Even so, despite the acceptance there were some who were still malcontented. The nobility of some of these planets were angry that they and their archaic had been cast aside in favor of something more accessible. In others, warlords were displeased at having the power they had won taken from them. These little outbursts were personally and relatively easy but out. He quite enjoyed rooting these sorts of people out of their fortresses and slaughtering them as an example. When the corrupt and greedy were replaced by the order people no longer grew restless. Every planet under their banner slowly but surely began to prosper as the old ways were cast out and the reforms began to take effect. 

Some places would take longer then others, but change was coming. Soon the galaxy would finally move beyond the past and into its future. As would he. 

 

The coronation was now painfully close and with it would come the delegates. Ren had decided to invite the governors to the event. It was mostly a ploy to give him a chance to evaluate them in the way only he could: rummaging around their minds to check for anything worrying. It would be a test more for the locally sourced governors then those drawn from the ranks of the order. 

Yet, it was also a chance to show the galaxy more than the man he was when he went to crush those who rebelled because there slaves were taken away, or because they could no longer rule with impunity. 

 

He arrived at the party late. 

Ren received a great number of invitations. Most of the time he had some else read through them, but he had wanted his night kept clear. Unfortunately, it seemed Hux had not done the same. Kylo had cursed himself when he was informed that Hux was attending a party being thrown in his honor in the city. Ren had been so caught up in his plans that it had not occurred to him to inform Hux to keep his night open. His first inclination had been to rage, but he had steadied himself. Hux would have had no reason to know what would happen tonight. 

Muttering every curse he knew under his breath, Kylo had set out across the city. The streets were lined with flowers and banners. The red, white, and black covered the city streets as he sped through them.   
When he arrived everyone was already quite drunk. He had left the two guards he had taken with him outside. Kylo was quite sure he could protect himself, but he had no desire to be on edge tonight of all nights. 

The minute he entered the room he felt the world stop around him. Even now it was still strange. It was not the kind of silence he had inspired when he was under Snoke’s power. It did not have the same twinge of fear. No, this was a hungry silence. He could hear the whispers of half formed thoughts as he began to descend the stairs. Half of them wanted to sleep with him- hoping to be his empress or emperor in a few cases. The other half wanted to win his favor. However the only person who he wanted to see was leaning against the bar with a look of comical shock on his handsome face. 

Hux looked beyond beautiful in his new clothes. The crimson fabric fit perfectly, showing off his tight, muscled body. His hair was loose as it often was these days. A few strands had come to hand in front of his sea-glass eyes. A high flush painted the tops of his cheekbones. Kylo thought about how those eyes looked when Hux was right on the edge of giving in to him- simply because he could no longer bear to be teased with the one thing he desired. That same blush had been on the general’s cheeks that night Kylo had made his decision. It deepened as he looked at Hux from the top of the stair case. Then the music began to play and Hux looked away. 

 

When Hux looked away, Kylo found his eyes drawn to the man standing next to him. He knew Milo Sarn by name and had seen him a few times in the crowd at parties, but he did not know the man. The few things he had hear about the man suggested that he was legendary for his many romantic conquests. Half the town seemed to have been infatuated with him at one point or another. Kylo didn’t much care about gossip, but he did make an effort to find out who Hux associated with. 

Perhaps the strangest thing was how similar Sarn looked to him. He could have been his brother they were so similar. True, Sarn was no where as powerfully built as him, but there was a grace to the other man. Up until this moment he had not been worried at all about Sarn. Now though, he found he didn’t like the way Sarn was standing so close to Hux. Something about the similarity in their looks felt off to him. 

Curious and dangerous, Kylo dipped into the man’s mind. He did not like what he saw at all. He saw the desire the other man had for Hux. His Hux. He flicked through memories of the time they spent together. Kylo saw the other man trying to ply the red head with gifts and sympathy. For a second after he left the traders mind he thought about using the force to make the man’s hear explode. He had almost started to focus the force around him to do just that when he stopped himself. 

That was not what this evening was about. He had come with the intention of putting all his cards on the table. Finally scratching the itch he knew both of them had been ignoring for these past weeks. Killing the man would not help him. As good as it would have felt to do so. Yes, he would have preferred to do this as he had planned instead of pulling him out into the cool night on the balcony. He would have taken Hux on a walk through the gardens- until they reached the center. There, surrounded by the beauty of the blossoms and their sweet perfume he would offer Hux the heart he had so long denied existed. 

He wanted the other man to chose him, without interference or influence. Kylo Ren could take whatever he wanted and often did, but he didn’t want that from Hux anymore. He needed the other man to chose to be with him and only him for eternity. Kylo knew that Hux desired him, that he was devoted to him as a leader, but Kylo wanted Hux to love him as a man. Although he did not think it would hurt that Hux would share a throne at his side if he agreed. He doubted Sarn could give him that. 

Before he could think any more on the subject he was overwhelmed with greetings. He spent the next hour or so trying to be as charming as he possibly could. He had developed the ability to flick some sort of internal switch within himself to do it. He smiled, laughed even, conversed on the state of the new government and the economy. When the dancing resumed he was pulled onto the floor by a beautiful woman in a flame colored dress. The coloring just made him think of Hux. 

He felt Hux’s eyes on him the whole evening. The young man didn’t join the dancing. Not even, it pleased Kylo to note, when Sarn attempted to drag him into it. 

When Hux got up and left, Kylo was quick to follow. He had thought to wait until the evening was winding down to make his move, but the opportunity had presented itself and he had waited too long to take it. 

When he came to stand beside Hux Kylo felt as though something was snapping into place. Things felt right with the other man at his side, their sides brushing together. He had resolved not to read Hux’s mind. Hux had always been very adept at noticing his presence and he didn’t want to destroy the trust they had built. That did not stop him from listening out for anything the man might project. 

Hux was clearly quite drunk. It was endearing to see the openness he had seen only when they were alone return. Hux had such a lovely, expressive face. It was always a shame when he clamped down on his subtle emotional shifts. While he had danced with the woman he had felt the jealousy coming off of Hux in waves. There was some more of that jealousy in his voice when he spoke of Kylo’s “admirers.” That was a good sign. Kylo began to think that perhaps Sarn wasn’t as much of a threat as he had worried he might be. Clearly, Hux disliked seeing him with others as much as he hated seeing anyone else with Hux. 

As they spoke he had felt the force tighten around them. This was right. Everything was as it should be. Then, as it always did, it went to shit. 

It was the burning conflict that finally broke his resolve not to read Hux’s mind. It was coming off of Hux in rolling bursts, each more intense then the last. It was clear that the other man was weighing his options. 

Kylo peered into the general’s mind and saw exactly what he had hoped he wouldn’t. Sarn was there. Hux cared for the trader. In this moment between the two of them- Hux had chosen to think of that scum and that was enough to distract him from his purpose altogether. 

He felt anger swell within him as he flicked trough Hux’s mind. The cruel words and accusations fell from his lips with incredible ease. He withdrew violently from Hux’s mind as he spoke. He couldn’t bear to see any more of the two of them. Kylo felt almost possessed. If Hux was drunk on liquor, Kylo was drunk on anger.   
He was angry at Hux, yes, but also angry at himself. What had he expected? The general wanted him physically but he still did not think Kylo capable of loving him. At least, not like Sarn could. He saw him only for a conqueror, not a provider. 

It made Ren want to whip out his saber and tear gaping holes in the marble walls of the ball room. Even better storm into the party and relieve the trader of his head. For all their progress, Hux still did not believe Snoke’s rabid dog capable of love. So, he turned on the man to whom he had planned to give everything. He grabbed Hux by the wrist, pulling him closer. He did not care that his grip was nearly bone crushing, did not see the look of shocked confusion on Hux’s face. He was consumed. Too caught up to care. He wanted Hux to hurt the way he did. Ache the way he did. “Don’t pretend to be naive, Hux,” he hissed cruelly, “You should no better. I don’t like other people touching my things. Especially not good for nothing smuggler scum like that.” He spat out the last words with true venom. 

There was a pause. It felt like an eternity when it was probably closer to a millisecond. He saw the fire ignite in Hux’s eyes. That fire he was so drawn to when they were alone. 

The slap took him by surprise. 

He stood there and watched in shock as Hux stormed off. Kylo didn’t even move to chase after him. Not once had Hux laid a hand on him. Never. Not even when he had taken him close to the edge of death, with his hands or the force tightened around his throat. Hux fought with words. He had never lashed out like this- like Kylo would have. 

He raised a hand to the cheek where Hux had struck him. It was like a light had been flicked on and suddenly the universe was illuminated for the first time. It had been a dream he realized. A boyish hope. Snoke had been right about him. He could only sew violence, win submission. There was no room for love within him. 

He had been a fool to think that it was even possible.   
He turned to look out at his city. Just one in a galaxy of billions that belonged to him. No, emperors did not love. They did their duty to ensure that those they ruled loved and feared them in equal measure. He had wasted so much time on a Childs dream. Time he should have spent entirely on ruling. 

He resolved to call the minister of propaganda to him in the morning. They would find him an empress, not to sit at his side, but look pretty at his feet. If love was necessary he would pretend for the cameras. He would turn all his thoughts to peace, to wiping out corruption, and ensuring that the galaxy moved into the future. As for Hux, let him have his trader. Kylo wanted nothin more to do with him. 

He turned, sparing a moment to look down at the scar on his palm. The mark still looked red on his pale skin. Kylo stared at it with a venomous smirk. He had been such a fool, acted so impulsively. He had read about the ritual in a book from Snoke’s library the night before Hux had come to see him that first time. In a chapter on the customs of the first Sith he had read a passage about blood bonds. They had been a way of tying one soul to another through the force as well as the flesh. The pages had said that once two were tied they could never betray one another. They were of one blood, one flesh. 

He had been impulsive that night, wanting Hux tied to him. Chained to him, even. Kylo had wanted Hux to look down at his hand and see his mark. The general would think of him every time he saw that scar. It had seemed like a victory- an act of domination. 

It was only later that he discovered the note in the back of the book. Though they had quickly become a tool of oath taking, they had originally been a ceremony for marriage. When he had chanted the words to Hux he had not fully understood what they meant. However, when Hux had repeated them back it had felt right. 

The only thing that had stopped the ceremony from being a true marriage was that they had left out the last phrase. It had been there, in the notes, written in blood red ink. Now it was written on a slip of paper, laying useless in his pocket. 

He took it out, meaning to throw it into the wind, but he couldn’t. Instead he balled it up and shoved it back into its place. 

He plastered a smile on his face and went to rejoin the party. Within seconds he was once again dancing across the hall. His partner wore a dress of pure scarlet. He tried his best not to think about Hux.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, this one took a bit of time. I am planning on three more chapters which I am going to try and get together asap. Thank you for the comments and I hope you continue to enjoy the story! 
> 
> Yes, Kylo has serious issues and really needs to pay more attention.


	10. Chapter 10

By the end of the day that the governors were set to arrive Hux had successfully avoided Ren for nearly a full twelve hours. This was normally something that would be almost impossible to do, but he had pulled it off. It was not until he spent a full say dodging the dark haired man that he realized how much time they spent together. He had sent his assistant to excuse him from the council meetings. The audiences he could not avoid he had moved to different rooms around the palace which would strategically place him as far away from Ren as possible. The reasoning was that Ren might come looking for him after noticing his absence and his rooms would be the first place he would look.  
Hux knew the other man’s schedule like the back of his hand, so he had thought it would be easy to avoid him. What he had not accounted for was the fact that Ren’s schedule had been altered for the day leading up to the coronation. After nearly being caught for a fifth time, Hux felt like the gods were laughing at him. He probably deserved it.

He had been avoiding Milo too although this was a lot easier. His friend had been sending him message after message. It was hard for him to ignore the first few, but after a while it got easier. Avoiding Ren did not get easier. Every time he heard that deep, musical voice from around the corner he felt his heart crack. It hurt even more to turn away and quickly walk in the opposite direction. 

As painful as it was he knew the isolation was necessary. It had become clear that he needed to make a decision. Seeing Kylo and Milo side by side had finally forced him to come to terms with feelings he had wanted to ignore. What frightened him was how long he might have gone on denying the truth. It seemed like it should be an easy choice. On the one hand there was Milo. Milo who cared for him, was kind to him. Milo who looked like Kylo but without that violent undercurrent. On the other hand there was Ren. 

Hux knew that if he chose to pursue a relationship with Milo he would be content, even happy. He could move from the palace and into Sarn’s home in the city. Hux knew he would be welcomed and feel at home there. In time he would forget about the burning love he felt for his emperor. But he knew he would never really be rid of it. How could he move past Kylo Ren when his mark was carved into his palm, when his blood ran through his veins? He couldn’t. YetThe mark of ownership still ran through his palm. It always would. Maybe in time the pain might dull to something bearable. Perhaps returning home to Milo each night would make standing at Kylo’s side but never possessing him easier. However none of that was certain. 

With Kylo, Hux did not know if he would be content. In fact he was sure he wouldn’t be. Ren was like the sea. He was ever changing, brutal and beautiful. He would pull Hux in one day and then push him out the next as he had done from the beginning. 

Ren had been kind to him the night before. Or at least he had been before it had all burned down around them. The dark haired man had been almost sweet, and those words about Sarn had been something else entirely. Kylo was jealous. Ren was jealous of Milo, thought had given in to the sweet overtures the other man had made. Ren must have thought that the decision had already been made. Hux wondered how long before Ren realized that it was far from decided. 

Hux knew Ren wanted him. That was yet another part of this cruel equation.  
He had no doubt that if he confessed- offered himself to Ren that the emperor would have him. Perhaps they would even rule together. Hux knew that if would be perfect. Ren would consume him with that violent passion of him and all would be well for a time. Sooner rather then later, that spark between them would burn out. What would happen then, he wondered. Would Ren have him killed? Maybe he would do it himself, finally making good on all those threats across the years. Hux doubted it. Ren had grown past that a long time ago. No, he would keep him alive, lithium keep his position, and instead cast him aside. Hux would spend the rest of his days in the same place as before: at Ren’s side, in love and unloved. 

This was where the choice truly came in. Hux needed to decide between the man he loved, who would use him up until their was nothing left and then cast him away- and a man who was his friend, but who he did not love. He could learn to love Milo in that way, but there was no doubt in his mind that it would never be the same. 

Hux was forged in fire. He had rose to the top of the order with fire and blood as his currency. He craved it more then anything and Kylo Ren was fire incarnate. Yet, if you weren’t careful, fire would burn you and everything you loved to the ground. It would leave you nothing but a pile of charred bones, and turned what you had built to dust. 

In the end it was not a decision at all. 

He strode through the halls of the palace he had built for the man he loved. The white of his cloak flew out behind him like a pair of wings. The delegation was scheduled to arrive at any moment and he had lingered to long. With a sigh he turned the corner and came face to face with Ren. 

Ren was dressed in all black. He looked, strangely enough, much the same as he had when he was still Snoke’s apprentice. Still young, tall, dangerous. However the ragged cloak he had worn was long gone. Now a beautiful black cape draped across his shoulders. It seemed to reflect the light just as the throne behind the doors did in the high sunlight. Hux noticed with a twinge of irritation that it was not the outfit they had decided on with the help of the minister of propaganda days before. 

Ren had gotten rid of the tattered rags he used to wear, but he was still resistant at times to being dressed. It had been a battle but Hux had thought he had finally won when Ren had agreed to let them hire someone to dress him. Clearly he had been wrong. Instead of the black and red robes he was supposed to be wearing, Ren was dressed in his everyday attire. The fabric was fine and the cut superb, but it was not what had been discussed. 

Two sentries stood on either side of the doors. Ren turned to them and with a wave of his hand commanded “Leave us, someone will send for you when you are needed.” His voice tone was as cold and hard was iron.  
Hux did not turn to look as the two men vanished down the corridor into the shadows. The general could not bring himself to meet the brown eyes he could feel fixed on his face. Instead, not wanting to look down, he fixed his gaze on the doors in front of him. 

There was a moment before Ren spoke. His voice was calm and cold. It was far more frightening then anything Ren had ever attempted on the finalizer. For someone whose rage made up their whole being to be silent scared Hux. He kept his eyes fixed on the black doors in front of him.  
“Hux, I was starting to think you were dead,” he said, voice even. Hux tried his best not to flinch at the ice in the words.  
“No, Supreme Leader. Not quite yet,” he bit out as calmly as he could. The scar on his palm was burning white hot under his flesh. He wanted to scream, to fall to his knees and reveal himself, but his pride would not let him. Hux was no child. This was not the time for this. The delegates would be arriving soon, if they weren’t already here. Neither of them had any time for this.  
Ren smiled quickly, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. “Well, what was it then that kept you from the council meeting and the audiences, then? Feeling unwell? Too much fun last night?” There was a bit of venom in these last few questions. It was poorly disguised but not by much. 

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself. He did not mean for them to be as sharp, but the wounds from last night were still sore enough to sting. Ren had promised to stay out of his mind, and he had broken that promise. “Supreme leader, you could always just rip your way inside my mind and find out. You seemed fine with doing that last night. Why break the habit?” 

Hux heard the crunch of leather and Ren balled his fists. He steeled himself for the slap, but it never came. There was a moment of silence and then a sigh. Hux was taken aback but did not look up at Ren when he spoke. 

“No, Hux. I am done with that. I have seen enough of your mind to want to stay out of it forever. Now answer my question,” Ren sighed. There was something tired in his voice that Hux had not heard before. The anger was still there, bubbling under the surface as it always was. Hux could feel it. He wondered what Hux had found. Surely he had known the depth of Hux’s hatred for him before everything had changed? In truth, hux could think of nothing in recent memory that might have disturbed Ren so much. Unless of course this was that jealously he had glimpsed right now rearing its head. He hoped it was that. That would mean that Ren still cared for him. 

The general believed him this time. He had not believed Ren last night when he had said those sweet words about wanting to hear his thoughts from his own mouth. He had wanted desperately to believe then, but he did now. Ren had proved surprisingly adept at deception, but Hux could sense the truth in the dark haired man’s words. He told the truth. Kylo Ren did not want 

Hux kept his eyes fixed on the door. “No, Supreme Leader. I did not have much fun last night. I returned to my rooms quite late, but I found sleep hard to come by.” This was quite accurate. He had barely slept last night. Hux was relatively certain it did not show on his face. “As for the meetings, I had other matters I needed to attend to. Decisions I needed to make,” he whispered. He heard his voice grow faint despite himself. He wanted to be strong, at least until this whole thing was over. When Kylo was crowned and the delegates had gone home, when there was no treat at their doorstep then he could breakdown. He had sworn to be loyal and faithful to Ren, to protect what they had and would build. Now was not the time. 

As if to confirm this thought Hux’s assistant came around the corner. The man was panting, but when he saw the supreme leader he straightened up. “I beg your pardon, Supreme Leader.” He turned to Hux. “You wanted me to inform you when they were all assembled in the throne room.” 

Hux turned to look at him quickly. “Yes, I did. Now run up to the gallery.Tell the men I have stationed there to keep and eye out for anything suspicious. Anyone even looks at the supreme leader wrong and you come to me. Someone makes a move and you vaporize them. Now go,” he said. The man nodded quickly, bowing to Ren before running off into the halls once more. 

There was a pause. Hux turned back to Ren, but once again trained his eyes on the doors. When he spoke he continued to look away. “Supreme Leader, I think it is time we went to meet your visitors. If you would like we can continue this conversation later on. Now is not the time. Nor is it the place.” 

Hux could now hear the excited chatter coming from behind the doors. There were so many of them. He was worried about an attack here, but he was more worried about the coronation. Hux didn’t like having Ren so exposed. Yes, the man could take care of himself in a fight, but there would be too many minds tomorrow for even Kylo to read them all. Hux felt himself running his fingers across the mark on his palm. It had started as a nervous habit, but now it was quite calming. 

Ren’s eyes burned with that dark fire they always did, but Hux refused to look at him. He didn’t need to. He could feel them burning through him. “Were they that important…these decisions, that you would leave you emperor alone?” he asked. His voice was even but some of the ice had left it at least. Ren sounded like a man who knew what was about to happen. Perhaps because he had been expecting it. 

That tone of finality finally made Hux look up. Ren was close to him, but at a respectable distance. He had not closed the distance they way he might have before. Now he just stood there like a man condemned to death, waiting for the sentence to be passed. Hux longed to speak up and cry out that ‘no, he would never leave Kylo alone. He could never leave him alone.’ He didn’t, because as the words formed on his lips, Ren spoke again, eyes hard and cold. They looked almost black now, just like the crystal throne behind those doors. “Have you made your decision, Hux?”

“Yes,” Hux said, raising his eyes to meet Ren’s once more. “Yes, I think I have. I think it was made some time ago.” He heard the trembling in his voice, but refused to let it show on his face. Now was not the time. They would have a lifetime for it when this was done.  
There was a moment of pause and then with a wave of Ren’s hand, the doors flew open. Ren turned away from Hux, stepping into the throne room where the line of delegates waited. 

There were over a hundred of them. All were dressed in either their first order uniforms or the traditional garb of their homeworld. Hux paid little attention to the first order men. He had suggested many of them himself and trusted them, if not completely, then a great deal. Instead he focused his scrutiny on those sourced from the worlds under their control. They were the most likely to think they could go on without foreign control. They all knew that the order was a force for good in the galaxy, but the power of the image of the foreign overlord never lost its power. He hoped that Ren’s supernatural power might keep them in line long enough for him to root them out. 

Outside the sun was beginning to set. The pinks, purples and orange of the night glittered through the glass hall lighting their way. Garlands of flowers had been hung around the pillars of the gallery that lined the wall connecting the room to the main palace. Hux could just barely spot the glints of blasters in their sniper configuration poking through the hole sin the flower arrangements. It was subtle, but not as subtle as he had wanted. Only someone who was scoping out the place would notice them, but then again that was what Hux was worried about. 

As they strode through the hall there was a loud wave of applause from most of the governors. A few, Hux noted, were decidedly unmoved by the appearance of their new emperor. He burned their faces into his mind.  
Ren stopped at the foot of the dais but did not go to sit on the throne. Hux was almost surprised by this, but he thought Ren must simply be waiting until the coronation. Hux was not a superstitious man, but even he could understand if someone thought sitting on the throne when it was not yet their was a bad omen. 

Hux stood at Ren’s side, thought a little further back from him. He wanted to be close, but he needed the distance to get a good look at the assembled crowd. As Ren began to speak, Hux began to scan and catalogue the faces in the crowd. He was almost certain that a few of them were hostile enough to try something. The coronation would be the ideal time to strike. If he knew it, there was no doubt others among them did as well.  
Ren’s words of welcome and veiled threats about what would come to pass to those who did not do their duty to the order blurred together in the background. It was a good speech. Ren had a way of being frighteningly eloquent when he needed to be. Sometimes it still struck Hux. However he was not here to listen to Kylo’s words. 

By the time Ren was finished and the audience was applauding respectfully, Hux had already singled out two delegates who he did not trust. They were shifty looking men, the governors of Coruscant and Bespin. If they had seemed problematic on paper, Hux liked them even less in person. The Corscanti had an ill look about him and the greasy governor of Bespin was no better. There was more to it then that though. Hux sensed something about them was wrong. 

He was by no means force sensitive. In fact, the previous supreme leader had derived a lot of amusement from reminding him of the fact that he was “as force sensitive as a rock.” That did not change the fact that something was telling him these men were not to be trusted. 

The welcome ceremony was over shortly. Ren informed the assembly that he would be joining them in a few hours, in the mean time he told them that a reception had been organized for them. There was another round of applause, and then it was over. 

Hux and the rest of the governors watched Ren stride out of the hall, black cloak billowing behind him. When the doors flicked shut behind him, Hux began his work. He had arranged a reception in the gardens for the governors weeks ago. It was a thinly veiled ploy to get a chance to observe them in a more informal setting. Barrels of wine and liquor had been shipped in from every corner of the galaxy, along with enough food to feed a planet.  
It was Hux’s hope that with the help of liberal amounts of alcohol, that by the end of the night he would have a clear picture of where these people’s loyalties truly lied. 

He watched with a strained smile as they piled out into the gardens like a column of ants. It fell from his face the moment he saw the last group step out into the setting sun. When at last the throne room was empty, Hux waited for his men to come down from the gallery above. He addressed them in a hushed voice when they were all assembled. “I want eyes on the coruscanti and the governor of Bespin at all times. If they do anything suspicious inform me. If they leave the grounds I want them arrested and brought to me, quickly and quietly.”  
“Yes, sir,” the men replied. He looked them over sternly before waving them away into the gardens. 

His assistant stayed back when he gestured for him to do so. “Yes, minister,” the young man said. Hux stepped close to him, looking around to make sure that no one else would hear them. “ I wand you to stay by the Supreme Leader’s side tonight. I want to know who tried to speak with him and if need be to remind him not to take anything offered to him by anyone. We don’t need him getting poisoned the day before the coronation. Also remind him to wear the agreed upon outfit for this evening.” 

The young man nodded. Hux looked at him appraisingly before speaking again. “If he puts up a fight about it, simply remind him that we share blood and I wold prefer not to see it spilled,” he said seriously. His assistant looked at him strangely.  
Hux smiled dryly. “He will know what I mean. Now go.” 

With a nod, the young man ran off leaving Hux alone in the throne room for the first time since Kylo had happened upon him there. It was eerily similar to the memory he had of that night. The sun was setting and it painted the room with its bloody glow. But nothing was the same now. Tomorrow would change everything. The world was already starting to adjust to the new state of things. He could feel it snapping into place around him. The chance for change was slowly closing as everything began to lock itself in place. Kylo must have felt it too. 

He could not get that look of acceptance out of his mind. The other man had looked so sure, so certain in a way he had not since he had overthrown Snoke. Hux had always known that deep down there was some part of Kylo Ren that was uncertain. He had been conflicted about his father, his uncle, the girl, snoke, even conflicted about the empire. It was only when they were alone that Hux had seen that look of certainly. He recognized it only because he had seen it in his own eyes when he looked in the mirror this morning. 

The red haired man turned towards the side of the room facing the gardens. Outside the trees and bushes were covered in millions of tiny lights. Flowers and ornaments hung from the bows of the trees, illuminating the space with a golden glow. He saw servers moving through the crowd with drinks and food. The band had begun to play and chatter and even a little laughter filtered in through the open doors. It would be an or or two before Ren joined them. Until then Hux was tasked with entertaining and observing their guests. 

He took a moment to check his reflection in the glass before stepping out into the fray. His white cape sat perfectly on his shoulders. The black and white of his slacks and shirt accentuated his slim frame and made the red of his hair that much more striking. He wondered what they had looked like standing together in front of the crowd. Ren in his black and Hux in his black and white. They must have looked more like a matching set then had been intended when their outfits had been decided. 

He straitened his collar, running a hand through his longish hair before walking forwards and stepping out into the garden. The night air was warm and temperate as it always was here. Hux spent the next hour weaving his way through the crowds. He conversed with those who sought him out and noticed that his spies were circulating just as well as he was. He let some time pass, an a lot of alcohol flow before he approached the governor from Coruscant. 

Ren had entered a few minutes ago and Hux had watched from the sidelines as the governors came and paid their respects to their new emperor. Many of them shamelessly groveled and flattered. Ren smiled easily, but there was ice in his eyes. No doubt Kylo was reading their minds as they stepped forwards. Hux had stopped paying attention after Kylo had fallen into a deep conversation with the governor of Tattoine. She was a beautiful woman with dark eyes and hair. Her skin was sun kissed and she was strong and powerfully built. 

If there had ever been a human being who was Hux’s polar opposite it was this woman. Something twinned in Hux’s gut as he watched them walk through the gardens. When she dropped something and Ren knelt to pick it up for her, hux nearly whipped out his blaster and shot her. Hux knew jealously was unbecoming but he hardly cared. He turned his attention away from the couple and towards his mark for the evening. 

The man’s name was Alistair. He had been an imperial officer once but now he was simply a wealthy man with a lot of influence. He wore a suit in the style of the old imperial uniform. The deep grey matched his silvering hair and frosty blue eyes. Hux had known the man was trouble from the moment he had set his eyes on him, but it had only grown worse as the night had progressed. When everyone else had gone to pay their respects he had hung back, lurking in the shadows much as Hux was. When Hux approached him the other man did not seem surprised, instead a cool look of amusement came across his haughty face. He reminded Hux of his father. Hux had neither loved nor trusted his father. 

“First Minister Hux,” Alistair drawled in that old imperial accent of his. “A pleasure I’m sure. I was wondering when I would get a chance to speak to you.”  
Hux smiled his own cold smile back at the man. “ Oh, the pleasure is all mine.” He extended a hand and with a quirk of one silver eyebrow the officer took it.  
“This is quite the place you've built, Hux” said the older man. He gestured around to the gardens and the slope of the palace’s towers. The choice of words gave Hux a moment of pause. It was not exactly common knowledge that the plants for the palace had been his. It was possible that the governor meant both Ren and Hux, but something about the stress he put on the word made Hux doubt that. 

He quickly plastered his false smile on his face agin. “I would be more then willing to take you on a tour of the rest of the gardens if you would like, governor,” Hux replied. “ I would show you around the palace but preparations are still being made for the coronation tonight and I would prefer not to get in their way.”  
The governor smiled. “Another time perhaps,” said the governor. He appeared to have far too many teeth for Hux’s liking but he was not afraid. This man was not stupid enough to try anything here where they were so exposed and there was chance of escape. “I would like that very much, I find myself getting quite tired of this lot,” he gestured to the crowd beyond. “Simpering fools,” he sneered. 

Hux agreed. The majority of the governors were fools. That was partially by design. He and Ren had wanted people who would obey their orders blindly and devotedly. Intelligence was not always a quality one wanted in a subordinate. Especially not when it could be used to plot against them. 

Hux gestured towards an opening in the bushes and the two of them made their way into the expanse of the garden’s. The general was quite sure that none of the other governors would notice their absence. His spies certainly would, but he was quite thankful for this. He did not like the idea of being alone with this man, especially if no one had seen them go. Alistair was dangerous. 

They made their way through the tall, flowering bushes at a leisurely pace. Soon the music and chattering had grown faint. They spoke of trivial things, The weather, the coronation, trade and economics until they came to a stop at a large fountain. Hux had lead them into a rarely frequented part of the gardens. The sun was long gone by now and only the lights in the trees lit their way. When at last they were completely alone, the game began as Hux knew it would. 

“I knew your father, you know,” said the governor. He had a strong voice. It was cold and clear like the sound of a stream in winter. Hux nodded politely. “He was a great tactician, a wonderful soldier, one of the coldest most brutal men I have ever met,” the governor continued.  
“Yes, he was that,” Hux agreed. The sound of the running water in the fountain seemed very loud in the quiet.  
“He would have been proud of you, Hux. You spread the order across the galaxy as he would have wanted. Crushed the rebellion. He knew you would be capable of great things. I doubt he would have been pleased about the force-wielding brat wearing your crown though, but he grew up in Vadar’s shadow- as did I. We know how it goes with those people,” the elder man sneered. 

Hux looked at him sharply, but the former imperial merely smiled that shark’s smile of his. “Don’t pretend to be insulted, you know its true. Kylo Ren has spent a very long time winning himself a reputation as Snoke’s mad dog. Now Snoke is dead and the dog no longer has a master to keep him in line. Fancy titles and a crown won’t make the whole galaxy forget that. His power will keep most of the systems in line, the policies you've created will keep the poor and common people united behind you for as long as he listens to you, but you would be mistaken to think this will last. It is only a matter of time before they grow tired to biting down on their tongues to stay silent. You two have taken quite a few things away from powerful people.” 

The general could taste the threat behind the words even though the governor was careful to keep it from seeping into his tone. It was Hux’s turn to sneer now. He did not like being threatened. “Oh I am quite aware that their are sill those who will need to be removed. As is the emperor. The biggest mistake those people could make would be to think they are safe in their silence. I thought I was safe in mine, until he pulled my thoughts from my head. Tell me, governor,” Hux smiled, “Have you ever had your mind invaded by a man like Kylo Ren? No matter how quiet you think you are, it is not enough to avoid his notice.”

The smile stayed pasted on the elder man’s lips, but the ice was back in his eyes. “You are a smart boy, Hux.” The red head bristled at the name, but quickly surpassed it. He would not be paired by this man. “But, men like Ren don’t think they need to be smart. Not like you or me. They think that their wizardry makes them rulers but it doesn’t. Palpatine maybe had a grasp on politics, but Vader was a violent fool. Snoke was much the same. A liability. From what I’ve heard of our new emperor it runs in the family. Is that true?” 

Hux was annoyed now. The man was absolutely right. It was the selfishness of Vader and the shortsightedness of Palpatine and Snoke that had lead the empire and the old first order into decay. “That was true in the beginning,” Hux replied honestly, “but Ren is not his grandfather. He has become a good leader, in time he will be a great one.” 

The governor was looking at him appraisingly now. “I suppose that is owed in part if not entirely to you. Don’t try and deny it. I am not for a second convinced that these economic plans are Ren’s ideas. He may be smart enough to implement them, but they have you all over them.”

Hux did not try and deny it. There was clearly no point with this man. No matter what Hux said it would not matter. The governor continued. “There are many in the galaxy who know this, Hux. You are not without friends. I am of a mind to become one of them, minister. I trusted your father and I see in you what I saw in him. I want to help you, but that mark on your palm is worrying.” 

Hux was confused, but refused to let it show on his face. He had expected threats, but offerings of friendship he had truly not expected.“What exactly are you talking about, Governor,” he snapped warningly. “I am getting tired of your veiled words. Say what you mean and say it quickly.” The fire he felt in is heart was starting to leach it way back into his words. 

The governor leaned against the edge of the pool, the picture of ease. Hux could imagine what the man had looked like in his youth, when the empire had still reigned across the galaxy. The sneer had vanished. It was replaced with a calm, but still haughty look of consideration. “Don’t think you can fool me, Hux. You've played this all wonderfully, but I’ve been around a lot longer then most of those fools you've appointed. I have seen empires rise and fall. I have seen the new and old republics crumble. Ren listens to you now because he thinks he needs you, but in time he will wonder why he should listen to you. He will get married, have children, grow distracted or be turned against you. Others will rise through the ranks and they will try and take him from you. Your are smart, resourceful, you will last a long time, but not forever.”  
The words were cool and measured, but Hux felt as though the temperature had rocketed up to that of a sun. The general continued, eyes fixed on Hux’s. “If he doesn’t kill you himself, it will only be a matter of time before someone else tried to take your place. You are young and handsome, at the beginning of the peak of your life. You will never be better situated again. “

Hux stepped back. He felt as though he had been struck. There was truth in the words and unbidden the image of Ren and that woman came to the forefront of his mind. The governor was right. It was only a matter of time before someone else came along. Hux knew what he would do if he was in their position. He would not suffer someone else to counsel Ren from his side. Ren might have cared for him once, but now Hux wasn’t sure. He had made a choice, but Ren seemed to have made one of his own.  
“What are you suggesting,” he whispered. Hux knew the answer, he merely wanted to see if the imperial would say it himself or continue to hide behind his words. He raised his eyes to meet those steely clear ones. 

“You know exactly what I am suggesting, Hux. Like I said, you are no fool and neither am I. We are survivors, Hux. So is the rest of the galaxy.” 

“And what exactly is it that the galaxy has survived, Governor?” Hux bit back. The heat seemed to have given way to bitter cold. He wondered how long they had been away. If Ren had noticed his absence yet or if he was still with that woman. 

“The Sith. The Jedi. Those who have the force and think it makes them better. It is they who have ravaged the galaxy with wars and terrors. It is their wars that have lost us planets full of people. They fight for light and dark- for themselves, not for order. If they cared about the galaxy at all they would do us all the favor of sparing us from their presence,” the governor growled. For the first time anger had seeped into his dark words. “We need men to rule, not relics of a time that should have died long ago.” 

Hux did not know what to say. Once again he saw the truth in the other man’s words and was struck silent by it. He ran his fingers across the scar on his palm.  
“You can’t kill him,” he whispered. “No one can. I have seen him stop blaster bolts in mid air. He killed the Jedi, he killed the last Sith snoke.”

The older man laughed a darkly. “I’ve met true Sith and seen them kill real Jedi knights. That girl was nothing, and Snoke was a shadow. We thought the Death Star could not be destroyed and that the empire would never lose. We were wrong. Anything can be done if enough people believe it must be. But that is none of your concern. You have a decision to make, Hux.”

Hux snorted. “I’ve grown tired of decisions, governor.” 

“All the same, boy you do. I know what that mark on your hand means. I know what it should mean to you and I don’t doubt that if I were to check there would be a matching one on the emperor’s palm. Yet, here you are listening to me despite it. If you had truly made up your mind you should have already killed me.” 

“Oh, don’t rule that out just yet. The mark…what of it? What does it mean to you,” Hux bristled, subconsciously bringing the hand towards his side as if to protect it. He didn’t like this. Verbal sparing and exchanging threats had always been a particular weak spot of his, but something had shifted now. He was stating to understand what was happening here. Something was being offered, thought it was offered very carefully. 

They were quite alone now, but Hux found himself looking for spied hidden in the shadows. As he suspected it was truly only the two of them. 

The Governor smiled again, sensing the realization. “There are those, who would rather see you on that throne. Those who are tired of those strong with the force thinking they can rule over us all. However, I doubt they would feel the same when they discovered that their new hope was not merely serving to survive, but was married to the man who will eventually lead to the ruin of another empire. Clearly no announcement has been made so it is not official by any laws but those of a dead order of mystics. It doesn’t need to be anything more then a scar.  
You and I both know it is only a matter of time before this new order of yours goes the way of the empire before it. As long as a man like Ren is at the helm that will always be the fate of empires. He was born with power, he does not understand how to earn it, or how to hold on to it. You can.” 

The governor kept talking, but Hux could only hear one word. It was repeated over an over and over in his mind. Married. Married. They were married? 

There had been no lie in the other man’s voice as he spoke. That would explain why a few who had seen the mark had given him strong looks. Perhaps there were still those who new about the ceremony, could see it for what it was. Suddenly everything made sense. No wonder Ren had reacted the way he did about Milo. Ren had tied them together not just in a way to preserve loyalty but romantically as well. God, what was wrong with him. Hux was going to kill that black cloaked idiot with his own bare hands. But, it had been nearly a year since that night when Ren had marked him- married him. If Ren had not brought it up by now then perhaps he had decided to keep it to himself. Maybe he had decided against it, and in doing so decided that the mark could remain as scar on his palm and not a bond for life. 

The governor’s voice broke through his thoughts. “Ah, so you didn’t know? Well, in that case I would caution you to think about what it means to be tied to someone who doesn’t bother to explain to you what they are doing. A force bond is not a joke. Someone who would create one on a whim is not someone I would trust to rule anything. I’ll leave you to your thoughts then, Armitage Hux. Take the time to think about our little chat, won’t you? You may have friends, Hux, but even they will not wait forever.” 

The silver haired man straightened himself up and made for the pathway. He turned when Hux called out after him. “Do you think you will get away with making threats on your emperor’s life to his first minister and advisor,” he asked somewhat incredulously. There was none of the forced anger in his words, merely curiosity. The governor smiled again. “Threats? No, Hux. It’s a good thing I wasn’t threatening. You and I were just having a talk about the history of the galaxy. As someone who has lived through it a lot longer then you, I thought you might like a lesson.” 

Hux stared at the man in disbelief. Despite himself he could not help but admire the sheer gaul of the man. “He can read mind’s you know. If he decides to look into yours he will see all of this.” 

The governor kept on smiling. “How do you think I managed to outlive the last emperor? I learned to put up shields around my mind a long time ago, Hux. When this one turns from bad to worse, you should hope you can do the same. I will see you at the coronation. I hope you will have made your choice by then. I am patient, but your friends might not be.” With that he turned and vanished into the night. 

Hux stood in the garden for a few more moments. The night seemed to have closed in around him. The color of his shirt felt tight around his neck. He loosened the top clasps but it did nothing to help. By the time he made his way back to the main gardens the party had died out. Nearly everyone had headed to their rooms to prepare for the morning to come. 

There were still a few who lingered in the bushes. Hux walked past them without paying much attention until he heard a deep musical voice he knew too well. It was accompanied by a shrill feminine laugh that sounded to Hux like nails on a chalk board. 

Hux did not want to turn the corner, but he forced himself to. He had no desire to see Ren and that woman, but he kept his head high and his eyes cold. He barely spared them a glance as he walked by, but he gave them a look all the same. With all that he had heard tonight he needed to see.  
The woman ignored him as he passed by but he felt Ren’s eyes on him. She sat in something dangerously approaching on the supreme leader’s lap. Both of them looked somewhat disheveled. Ren’s glossy hair was tousled and his eyes burned with that fire Hux had grown to crave and fear. To see them look that way with someone else froze Hux’s heart.  
There were still a few governors and representatives lurking about, but Hux did not bother with the formalities he knew he owed Ren. Hux did not address him and Ren did not press. He merely watched Hux walk away. “What is it, your grace,” he heard the foul woman simper as he passed out of their vision. The general longed to walk over the rip her tongue out, but he kept on walking. “Nothing,” he heard Ren growl. 

Hux smirked at that. The bitch didn’t know what she was getting. She had no idea what her supposed prize was capable of- not really. She had probably seen the holos and thought she knew him. Perhaps she thought they were nothing but rumors. She had never seen Ren covered in blood and sweat, raging against anything that came near him. He kept walking. 

The governors words rang through his ears as he walked passed the throne room. 

Ren listens to you now because he thinks he needs you, but in time he will wonder why he should listen to you. He will get married, have children, grow distracted or be turned against you. Others will rise through the ranks and they will try and take him from you.

Hux hardened his heart and his mind. The words ran through his mind again like a mantra. “ I will see you at the coronation. I hope you will have made your choice by then. I am patient, but your friends might not be.” 

His assistant was waiting for him in his rooms when he returned. The governor of Bespin had been vague and unhelpful and had not taken kindly to his loyalties being questioned. Hux dismissed the young man with others to post only men loyal to Hux in the gallery and the throne room the next day. 

Before getting in to bed, Hux cleaned and assembled his blaster. He had not worn it for a while now, but he was still one of the best marksmen in the order. That done he sharpened the two knives he kept on him at all times. One had been his fathers, the other a gift from Milo. It had a beautiful handle of pale blue-green stone. “Just like your eyes,” Milo had said. It was sharp and discrete. No hight saber, but at close range it would get the job done. He laid them out beside his clothes for the ceremony. 

Hux stared at the ceiling lost in thought until sleep took him. He was glad of it when the sun rose and the coronation began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it, sorry for the wait!


	11. Chapter 11

It all happened so fast Hux felt as though he was in a dream. The world seemed frozen in one single moment. It was the moment he had felt coming for several days now. The moment that would shape the future of the galaxy, and it was here. It was now. 

He had awoken to the sun just beginning to peak over the city. It was normal for him to wake before dawn, but today was different. The sense that a moment was coming that would set the future to come had only grown in the night. Doom hung over him, but so did possibility. No matter which won out, Hux knew that nothing would be the same after the coronation. He rolled over onto the cold side of the bed, enjoying the soft touch against his skin. 

Normally he would rise from bed immediately and set about his morning rituals, but today he lingered. He relished the first warm rays of sun as they kissed his pale cheeks. Sea foam eyes watched the golden glow of morning spread across his chambers. 

The pale silver furniture sparkled and the red stone floors burned like the heart of a volcano. Shelves full of books lined the walls. Most of them had been gifts from Ren for his success with the economic plans. The supreme leader- emperor soon, he reminded himself- had never directly acknowledged that they were from him, but Hux was sure it had been. For starters, Kylo was one of the few people who knew about Hux’s love of books. Second, only he would do something so grand an then refuse all knowledge of it. Milo would have left a note. Anyone else would have left a note, but not Kylo Ren. However, Hux had begun to wonder if maybe Ren would grow as tired of the pain as he had. 

As the sun rose higher Hux thought of the day they had arrived. He had returned to his chambers after a council meeting to find what seemed to be thousands of books filling his rooms. Shelves had been built into the walls to house them. 

He had known it was Ren immediately. There was no one else who would have the access required to order renovations in his chambers, and no one else invasive enough to try. For once Hux had been grateful for Kylo’s disregard for his privacy. He had stayed up the whole night reading. The next day at the council meeting he had nearly fallen asleep as a result. Ren had looked at him with a knowing smile. Ren did not take credit and Hux did not thank him. It was like everything else with them. If they were openly kind to one another they were worried the spell would break. 

Hux knew they were similar in that regard. They were so used to the competition- the struggle for power that its absence might destroy what they had built. They had grown accustomed to fighting one another. For them to stop would be like telling a heart to stop beating just because it ached. If it complied, it would die. If it kept beating it would cause them pain, but pain was better then nothing. 

He traced the multicolored spines with his eyes. All the knowledge in the galaxy and he sill had no idea how to make the decision which now hung before him. It was a sick little joke the gods played on him. 

It was rare even now to find actual physical books. Most were forced to use there pads to access online archives, but not Hux. Hux had thousands of books. When he was general on the finalizer he had only had one. It was a battered text about battle strategy. He had read the old thing from cover to cover at least a thousand times. It still had a place on his bedside table, but now Hux had the world at his fingertips. The answer to seemingly every question except the one he needed and answer for. From the windows that lined his chambers he could see the whole city before him. The events of the previous night seemed almost like a hallucination. Yet, the general was all too aware of how real it all was. 

When the moment came Hux had no idea what he would do. The tall man was no stranger to violence, assassination attempt both failed and successful, and successions. He had read about them in his books, seen them take place in real life but never had his own fate hung in the balance. He felt like a ship lost in the black of space without navigational charts. There fuel was running low and soon the crew would need to make a decision or die. Maybe they would make the wrong one and die anyway. 

Hux had spent the evening thinking, but now his mind was nearly blank. It felt as though it had been scrubbed clean with a rough rag. There were so many factors and calculations that his mind seemed to have shut down instead of trying to consider them all. He couldn't blame it. It had not been given enough time to find the solution. 

The governors words, the thought of Ren casting him aside, the marriage that had been carved into his skin and then abandoned, had changed everything. The decision between Milo and Ren seemed insignificant now. That had been a matter of happiness, this one might determine the fate of the whole galaxy. It would certainly effect the order. It could bring it to new heights or bring it into the dust, just as the governor had hinted. 

Hux liked to think that his response before seeing Ren with that woman would have been different. Perhaps he would have been able to decide right there in the garden where his loyalties lay.   
However none of that mattered. Her appearance had thrown his predictable responses out into the void. Hux was an engineer and a strategist alike. He knew that the fewer variables involved, the easier it would be to make a decision. Now that they were seemingly countless. 

The governor was venomous and Hux could just as much believe that the man was honest in his information that some wanted Ren dead and Hux in his throne, as that it was all some trick to get him to betray Ren publicly. Hux was not without his own enemies. There were more then a few who thought that someone so young, who had multiple public failures had no place as the emperor’s advisor. It could be a trap. However the points he had made were valid. Those who were strong in the force had plagued the galaxy for centuries. There wars and infighting had destroyed planets and slain countless. Yet, how could he judge. He had blood on his hands. The stain of a whole slaughtered system. 

No matter how many times he turned around in the mental maze of questions he did not find an answer. There were only dead ends and new avenues. More to the point there was no time. So, he found himself preparing to do something that would have horrified him before all of this: He was going to do what Ren would do. When what ever was coming, arrived he would simple react. He would do whatever his emotions told him to do and he would not hesitate. Hux would become an animal of pure instinct. 

He laughed at himself. This was what Ren did to him. To think that he would be forced abandoned logic seemed funny. Unfortunately there was nothing comical about it. If his emotions guided him wrong he may end up dead or worse. To put fate in the hands of the moment- to live spontaneously scared him more then anything else. 

Hux rose methodically from his bed and made his way over to the fresher. He spent a longer time then normal under the hot water. He had hoped that it would alleviate some of the tension in his shoulders. It didn’t. When his body and hair were dry he dressed himself in the clothes that had been left out the day before. Like everything he now owned they were of the finest cloth in the galaxy. The workmanship was unmatched. 

 

The fabric of the pants and tunic was whiter then snow and the silver epaulettes in the sleeve shone. Think silver stitching ran down the sleeves, but it was nearly as light as the white. It was a beautiful ensemble but today he could not quite bring himself to enjoy it. He had hidden a knife in his sleeve, another in a scabbard in his boot. The blaster he placed in the holster at his hip. The slope of his cape would be enough to hide it from the view of the assembly. He himself had issued the order that no weapons were to be permitted in the chamber, but no one would challenge him if he defied it. Even if they did, if he had to use it, none of that would matter anyway. When he was dressed and his weapons were stowed discretely he pulled on the white gloves. They were thin enough that he was not worried about it effecting his draw should he need to go for his knives. He thought about leaving them, but as they were part of the officially planned outfit to leave them off might seem suspicious. He wanted to avoid that at all costs. 

It had been quite a while since he had seen active combat, but he had not let his training lapse. Whatever he had neglected, he knew that the minute blaster bolts started flying- if they did at all- his training would kick in quickly. 

The cape laid out on the small bench at the foot of his bed was made of silver fabric to match that of the epaulettes. The fabric was silky and seemed to be made of almost molten metal. It was truly a beautiful thing, but once again he was not in the state of mind to enjoy it. With a sigh he fastened the cape over shoulders and strode from the room. As he made his way to the grand entrance his weapons were a comforting weight at his sides. 

 

He stopped just shy of the entrance hall. From his spot just behind one of the large black columns that lined the space he could hear the babble of the crowd. Perhaps babble wasn’t the right word. It was more of a roar. The entirety of Naboo seemed to have forced their way into the building. The throne room would still be mostly reserved for the governors but people no doubt would line the windows, filling the gardens and lurking just outside to catch a glimpse of their new emperor. Half a legion of soldiers were stationed around the palace and Hux’s men lined the gallery with their blasters in sniper configuration trained on the crowd. Security was nearly flawlessly dealt with, but all it would take would be for one trooper to make a mistake. One crack in the armor and it could all fall apart. Someone merely needed to get lucky. 

Hux’s eyes hardened. He stepped into the side room where the crown was being kept. As he stepped into the darkness of the room he once agin felt as though he had been cast adrift. On a stone pedestal sat the crown. 

It was one of the few things he had had no hand in designing. In fact he had not even seen the designs for it. It was a wreath of black crystal, the same as that which made up the throne. He reached down and picked it up. It looked like it should be heavy but it weighed barely anything. 

It was carved delicately, but there was still something brutally primal about the stone crown. The spikes of black crystal seemed both rough and smooth at the same time. At first glance it seemed to be completely unadorned. There were no flowers or stars etched into the crystal. No symbols of peace or bounty as Hux would have suggested. Nothing to subtly reassure the galaxy that peace would be the mission of this new empire. 

Hux was not sure why but he felt as though there must be more to it then this. The emperor of the galaxy could not just wear of wreath of rocks, no matter how beautiful. Everything Ren did had a reason behind it. This was something he was painfully aware of. He lifted it closer to inspect some markings in the stone. It was only after a moment that he understood. 

The jagged spikes that made up the wreath were swords, carved delicately from the rock. It was a crown made of the swords of the who had fallen fighting him and those who would fall if they challenged the order- or more accurately if they challenged their emperor. It was a threat and a promise of violence. More then the fact that he still wore his saber at his side, this was a reminder of who he was. Perhaps his time on Theed had made him forget who he was dealing with. Ren was a conqueror and a killer. Maybe he had not so much forgotten as he had ignored it. How much would it take to push him to abandon Hux’s path to peace and go the way of Snoke and Palpatine before him? Hux had wanted to believe that Ren was truly different, but looking at this he was dangerously uncertain. There could be no compromise from a ruler who wore a presented himself to his people like this. 

He put it back on the pedestal, very aware that his hands were shaking. The red haired man stood there in the gloom for quite some time before the door swung open. His assistant stood hesitantly outside. Hux turned to look at him sharply. He watched as the young man subconsciously straightened up. The general turned back to the crown. 

“Is it time,” he asked, though he knew the answer. Even he could hear the exhaustion in his voice. However, his assistant did not dare mention it.   
“Yes, Minister. They are ready for you,” the young man responded. 

Hux nodded curtly. He once agin lifted the crown in his hands and without another word they strand to the doors of the throne room. As they walked through the vast entrance chamber Hux could feel a thousand pairs of eyes on him. A path had been cleared to leave a path from the edge of the throne room all the way to the dais. People and species of all kinds stood along it. The crowds were massive, packed together like sardines in a can. There was barley any air in the room. Not that it mattered, everyone was holding their breath anyway. 

Troopers in their whites seemed omnipresent. There were even more soldiers scattered around the crowds in civilian clothing. Hux had been thorough in his planning for the security. They were all his men. They had and were still those he trusted to be loyal to him above all else. In the gallery he did not see any sign of movement. Good. The fewer who realized that they were in a sniper’s crosshairs the better. 

The governors were at the front of the crowds along the path. Hux saw the woman from last night and the former imperial. The former did not even look at him, the latter would not take his eyes off Hux. Then there was Ren. 

Kylo Ren stood at the foot of the dais. He was dressed once again in black, but the underside of the cape dropped behind his back was the same liquid silver as Hux’s. His long black hair was loose and shone in the sunlight. The moles and beauty marks on his face looked like constellations. His full lips were set in a serene yet hard expression. Ren looked at him steadily as he approached, but Hux could tell Ren wasn’t really looking at him. Those shining brown eyes of his were dark and hard as ever, but there was something glassy about them. Ren was scanning the crowd. Probably hunting for any thoughts he could turn to his advantage or any threats. 

Hux wondered if there were more like the old imperial who could shield their minds to the force. He wondered if Ren could sense the resistance or if he would simply gloss over them. He wasn’t sure what he hoped the answer to that was. Instead of thinking about it, the only thing he focused on was putting one foot in front of the other with the whole galaxy watching him. It was so quite you could hear a pin drop.

 

When at last he reached the dais the room had gone eerily still. It was as though the whole galaxy had been paused like a holo transmission. Hux looked up at Ren who was now truly looking at him. 

Hux bowed slightly but did not fall onto one knee. Instead he gestured for Ren to ascend the stairs to the throne. He followed a few paces behind and when at last Ren stood in front of the throne the silence had become thick and heavy. The room felt hot and the air to dense. Hux felt like he might choke on it. 

When at last he spoke, his voice sounded like summer thunder in the quite hall. It echoed and reverted off the stone and glass. “Kylo Ren, will you kneel now before the galaxy to be crowned emperor of the new order?” 

There was a pause and for a moment, Hux had the ludicrous idea that maybe Ren wouldn’t do it. That the whole thing was a dream and he would wake up on the finlizer with Snoke still decidedly alive. But Ren just looked him with his black hole eyes and knelt. “Yes, I will,” came the deep, rich voice. 

Hux closed his eyes briefly before coming to stand in front of Ren. He stood before the throne, facing the assembly. He looked over them for a moment before launching into the words. They rolled of his tongue mechanically like the gears in a watch. “Do you, Kylo Ren, Grandson of Padme Amidala, Grandson of Darth Vadar, Prince of Alderan, Destroyer of the republic and liberator of the first order from Snoke, swear to rule justly and do everything in your power to preserve the order of the galaxy? Do you swear to fight for the good of all under you rule? Do you swear to put the prosperity and piece of the galaxy first and ensure that both of these last as long as you reign?” 

Hux did not look down at Ren as he spoke. A part of him wanted to, but it hurt him to look at those eyes and see the fire that had burned there for them out out. Instead he kept scanning the crowd. Something continued to draw his eyes to a figure clad in blue standing near the edge of the hall. There was nothing particularly interesting about the figure, but something would not let him look away. As he spoke the words he kept his gaze fixed on the man or woman- if was hard to tell at this distance. When Ren affirmed that he would, Hux continued on to the next section of the words.   
“He had sworn now, in front of all of you to uphold the peace and protect it at all costs. You assembled here shall serve as witnesses to his oath. Will you affirm that he has sworn to do so?” he addressed the crowd, pulling his eyes away from the figure in blue. 

“We shall,” said a thousand thousand voices at once. It sounded like the beat of a drum, or like the first blast of the star killer as it wiped out the Hosnian system. Hux shuddered. He looked down at Ren quickly. The dark haired man’s eyes were closed. So close, Hux could see how long his dark brown lashes were. He quickly looked away. 

Instead he concentrated his vision at a point on Ren’s shoulder as he spoke the final words. “Them, I, Armitage Hux, general of the First order, crown you Emperor, Kylo Ren. May you reign by peaceful and prosperous for the whole of the galaxy. May it be long and glorious, but also just.” As he spoke, Hux lowered the crown onto Ren’s head. “Rise then, Emperor and meet your people,” Hux finished. 

Ren stood up, towering over him. The crown looked beautiful and cruel on his head. It suited him, Hux noted. Then the new emperor turned to look over his new people. 

An avalanche of applause broke out. There were shouts and cheers. The sounds of a thousand voices crying out in happiness filled the already suffocating air. Then there was a turn in the air. Hux sensed something. It was like the build up of pressure and static before a bold of lightening struck the ground and scarred it forever. It was in this moment that he knew the time had finally come. It was about to happen. The turning point. 

The world slowed and Hux’s eyes once again flew over to the place where he had seen the blue cloaked figure. There was no one there. Hux felt his eyes widen as he realized what was about to happen. The arrival of the moment brought the truth to him. The truth of the governor, the woman, Palpatine, snoke, the galaxy, the force, it all fell into place in his mind. Hux only had time to take a small, shallow breath. 

Then all hell broke lose. 

Many things happened at once. There was the sound of a shot. Troopers and the plain clothes guards burst forwards, whipping out their weapons. There was a roar from the crowd and then silence as the emperor halted the red bolt in midair. The crowd watched in shock as a man in green was pulled from his place in the crowd to the carpet that lined the hall. They watched in awe as Ren released the blaster bolt and it sailed right back at the man who had fired it. Such a display of power was enough to common absolute silence. It commanded the room to look at it and no one had disobeyed. Except one. Armitage Hux had not turned to look. 

When the shot had be fired Hux was not looking at the man in green. He was not listening to the roar of the crowd, and when silence fell once again he still did not look at the crumpled figure in green, slowly adding another shade of red to the long carpet. 

There was a simple reason for this. Hux had made his choice, the proof of it now stained his hands. 

While everyone had jumped to capture Ren’s attacker they had missed something. Their cries had masked another shot. One that was closer, one that was not intended draw attention. Hux had heard it. He had even seen the streak of red sail towards Ren’s chest.

The shocked silence stretched on for a second and then there was a thud as a a body hit the floor. A second later another one followed it. 

The whole room whipped around to face the dais once more looking towards the source of the sound. What they saw was something none of them would ever forget. They saw Armitage Hux, general and minister to Kylo Ren, fall to his knees, a stain of red spreading across his white clad chest. He was no longer standing behind Ren as he had been, now he was at his side. They watched as he pushed the hair from his face, leaving stripes of scarlet on his pale skin. Then they saw a figure fall forward from the side of the crowd nearest to the dais. It was dressed in a cloak of blue and the hilt of a dagger protruded from one of its eye sockets. The hilt of the dagger was the same color as sea glass. 

Someone screamed, someone else shouted to get a doctor. The general couldn’t be bother with the shouting though. He was preoccupied. 

He felt the universe snap into place around him. The swirling doom he had felt around him was gone, replaced with only the certainty that he had chosen at long last. Serenity rushed through him like wildfire, burning away all doubt. This was the way it was supposed to be. This was the work of the force. He had chosen correctly.   
A soft smile pulled at his lips as Hux felt his eyes grow tired. His eyelids felt like weights. However he fought to keep them open when he saw a figure clad in purest black kneel down beside him. It was Ren. Of course it was Ren, his foggy mind responded. Yet it couldn’t be Ren. 

Ren could not look as kind as the man who knelt beside him. Hux felt a hand come to grasp his own bloodstained ones.The man who could not be Kylo Ren spoke gently to him, so softly that Hux could barely hear. “Hux, what have you done,” he whispered. There was a sad look in those brown eyes Hux had not seen before. 

“Saved your life, you lumbering idiot and ruined my shirt in the process. I know its not as impressive as doing it with the force.Although -,” he sputtered but regained his breath before continuing. “A knife is not as impressive what you did with the blaster bolt. It was a very good throw though.” His own voice sounded faint and airy. He was sure the entire galaxy was watching them, or at least the throne room. He didn’t really care though. 

Spots were starting to appear at the corners of his vision. Ren spoke again, his voice soothing, although not enough to dull the pain he felt blossoming across his chest. “I’m surprised you didn’t just let me die. I had thought you would…You could have had the throne. You could have been emperor…” The dark haired man trailed off. It seemed almost like Ren was chastising him for saving him instead of letting him die. How very, Kylo, Hux mused. He couldn’t even say thank you when Hux saved his life. Hux just smiled at him sharply. A large hand came to his cheek, wiping away some of the blood. The world was growing dark. He refused to blink though. He wanted to look at Ren’s face for as long as he could before he fell into the dark. “Yeah,” he coughed. “I could have been, but that not what I want, Kylo. I haven’t wanted it for a long time. I see that now. You’re a damn mindreader, you should know that. I shouldn’t be able to surprise you like this.” 

Only a few spots of light remained now. Hux felt a pair of strong hands grab him and pull him up. Then he felt his side against Ren’s check, those broad forearms at his back and thighs. Ren was carrying him. “I told you, Hux. I didn’t want to see your mind anymore. I didn't want to see you with him. I saw a decision in your eyes and I couldn’t bare to look any more. I was certain I knew what it was already” he heard Ren whisper. His voice sounded faint and far away when Hux responded to the darkness. There was laughter in his hoarse voice. Well, it was either laughter or tears. “You are a fool, Kylo Ren. A big, annoying, handsome fool and I wish I could hate you like I did before. Yes…I did make a decision.” His tongue was starting to slow, the words becoming harder to form, but he fought it. “ I chose you. I choose you, and I’m probably going to die because of it,” he whispered to the dark. 

“I guess that makes both of us fools then, Hux,” the dark whispered back.


	12. Chapter 12

Hux woke to the sound of soft breathing coming from somewhere beside him. While this normally would have been cause for alarm, now it seemed perfectly natural. The general sensed no threat. As his mind cleared itself from the fog of sleep he began to remember what had happened. Ren and the assassins, the bolt he had taken for the new emperor, the man he had killed for and nearly died for in front of the whole galaxy. 

His eyes fluttered but the light they were met with was too harsh of him to keep them open for long. He shut them quickly and felt the cool wash of darkness. Hux was surrounded by the soft warmth of what he could only assume were blankets. Someone had carefully tucked him in to bed, but had neglected to dress him in anything resembling actual clothes. The pillow under his head and the sheets were cool against his bare skin. There was a dull ache in his chest that increased with every shallow breath, but it was not so intense that he could not ignore it. He had suffered worse pain then this. He could feel the rough fabric of bandaging against the top of his chest. It was just tight enough that with every inhale he could feel it bite slightly into his skin. The pain did not bother him. Pain had always grounded him. Hux let his head fall to the side so that his cheek was resting on the pillows behind him. The cool linen did not help to dull the flush in his cheeks. 

Except for the breaths of the other person in the room, all was quiet and peaceful. He could hear the sound of birds and smell the sweet perfume of flowers around him. It was almost enough to lull him back into sleep, but he resisted the urge. Instead he laid still, letting the serenity seep into his bones. 

When at last he grew tired of hiding from the sunlight he opened his eyes and was greeted with a somewhat shocking sight. Kylo Ren was sitting serenely in a chair next to his bed, spattered with what looked like blood and maybe some dirt. It had dried in red, brown flecks on his cheeks adding new constellations to his skin. Hux did not even bother wondering why Ren was bloody. For as long as he had known the dark haired man, Kylo was almost always covered in someone else's blood. He wore a thin black shirt and pants. Hux could see the heavier parts of Ren’s normal ensemble scattered on the floor near the chair. His feet were bare, boots laying next to heap of clothing. His oddly perfect face was relaxed in a way Hux had never seen before. The scar running down his face and neck seemed thin and pale in the sunlight. Ren’s eyes were closed but when Hux moved to sit up they flicked open. His dark hair was loose and wavy. The golden sunlight of the afternoon lit him from behind, forming a golden crown on his head. He looked every inch an emperor, but he did not wear the stone crown. Hux saw that it lay beside him on the arm of the chair next to the hilt of his saber. 

He moved to sit up and a bolt of pain went through him.“You shouldn’t move, you’ll reopen your wound if you aren’t careful and I would prefer it if you didn’t get blood all over my sheets. They are quite expensive,” Ren murmured. There was a slight upturn at the corner of his mouth- a smile. It sent a current of warmth up Hux’s spine. However, he ignored Ren’s direction in favor of lifting himself into a more upright position. He refused to lay here like an invalid while Ren watched over him like some sort of bizarre guardian angel. The movement burned, but after a few moments he was at Ren’s eye level. 

They looked at one another for a moment before Hux broke the gaze. The intensity in Ren’s eyes never failed to unsettle him, but now it was nearly unbearable.   
So, he took a second to look around the room. While Ren had often visited his rooms, Hux had not been in the emperor’s since they had been decorated. He had never been bold enough to seek Ren out here and certainly had never been in the bed room. 

They were truly magnificent. They had all of the timeless, elegance he had desired and the decorators and designers had done an even grander job then he had anticipated. Every square inch of the room was beautiful. 

The scent of flowers came from the numerous arrangements which surrounded the bed. There seemed to be half a hundred of them. Flowers in Red, blue, pink, yellow, and every other color imaginable dotted room and were gather around his bedside. He saw that the windows that lined the walls had been cast open to let in the warm summer air. It was a beautiful picture, almost beautiful enough to make him forget that he was currently lying nearly naked in Kylo Ren’s bed.   
The flush returned to his cheeks at the thought. He heard Ren chuckle softly at his side and forced himself to once agin look at the man he had risked his life to save.   
“How long?” Hux asked softly. Ren leaned back into his chair, long bulky body surprisingly graceful. “Three weeks. You spent some time in a bacta tank after the initial surgery. After that there were still complications…you needed to be kept sedated.” Ren’s words were measured and calm, but there was a bitterly sad bite to them. 

Hux merely sighed before responding, “Well I’m glad to see you haven’t burned everything to the ground while I was gone.” He looked around the room as though it were evidence and smiled at Ren. Hux felt the same warmth flood through him as before when Ren returned it. It was a crooked, genuine expression without the subtle violence that normally lurked at its edges.   
“No,” the emperor replied, gently, “I tried my best to keep it that way.It was difficult without my advisor at my side, but I think I have managed to keep the flames at bay for now.” 

Hux allowed himself to laugh softly at that. The wound in his chest burned as a result but he didn’t really care. He was merely glad to be alive. 

“The assassins, I assume you dealt with them as was appropriate,” Hux asked. It wasn’t really a question. The blood on Ren’s cheeks was answer enough but he wanted to hear the words come from those full lips. Something darker creeped in Ren’s expression as he responded. Hux saw the man’s large hands momentarily clench into fists before relaxing again.   
“Yes. That is one way of putting it,” the emperor replied. “I tracked them down to a safe house in the city. It turned out not to be so safe after all. They were tried and executed publicly. The last one met his end an hour or so ago.” 

Hux quirked an eyebrow at that. It sounded like a little too much restraint for the Ren he knew. At the look from Hux, Ren smiled agin. “Well, a few of them were tired publicly. Most of them I cut in half. I would have brought you their heads, but they would not have kept long enough for you to see them.” 

There he is, Hux thought. This was the Ren he knew: violent and brutal. It was almost comforting to see him again. It had been strange only seeing the supreme leader version of Kylo Ren. The politician, prince, and soon to be emperor was much easier to deal with, but Hux had always found it a little unsettling. 

A thought flew to forefront of his mind.“And the Coruscanti, the governor, what have you done with him?” He did not bother to keep the curiosity out of his tone. If Ren had the cell killed, what would he do to the conspirators within the highest ranks of the order. Hux knew what he would have done. 

Ren looked at him evenly before giving him an answer that he had not at all expected. “Alistair? He has returned to Coruscant to fulfill his duties for the order and to his emperor.” 

Hux was dumbfounded. “What? You just let him go,” he nearly shouted. “Believe me Ren, I am all for you learning that violence is not always the answer but he plotted against you! His men shot me! You should have beheaded him right there and then.”   
Ren seemed not only unphased by Hux’s near hysteria, in fact he seemed somewhat amused. “No Hux. He was no part of the plot.”   
Hux could not believe the words coming out of Ren’s perfect lips. If he could sit up any further without intense pain he might have reached over and tried to smack some sense into him. God, he had thought Ren was a fool for not realizing that he wanted him more then Milo, but this was too much. When he spoke it was with the tone of one talking to a particularly confused child. It was a tone his father had often used with him.“Of course he was, he practically spelled it out for me the night before the coronation. He didn’t even try to hide the fact that he meant to have you killed. I know you were preoccupied with that woman,” he spat the words, “but if I could sense the veracity of his venom, you- the mind reader- should have been able to smell it from a system away.” It was getting increasingly difficult not make his words turn contemptuous. 

When he finished his heart was racing. The flush had returned to his cheeks but this time was one of pure irritation and disbelief. Ren merely continued to look at him with that same calm understanding. “I know, Hux. I know exactly what he told you because I told him what to tell you. Don’t you see Hux. I needed a way to trust the extent of your loyalty. I wanted to see if there was any remaining possibility that you might turn against me. I told him to pull you aside, to try and turn you away from me. I needed to be certain you could not be turned from me. As for ‘that woman’ you don’t need to worry about her. She was a distraction although not a very effective one. She couldn’t keep my eyes off you for a second.” The soft honesty in Ren’s world was enough to send Hux reeling. 

When he spoke his voice sounded faint even to his own ears.“What?”   
Ren rose and came to sit on the edge of the bed. His closeness was almost as painful as the wound in his chest. Heat rolled off of his black clad body in waves and Hux had to resist the temptation to lean in closer. Ren smelled like sweat and iron, but underneath that was the smell of spices and fire. 

He tried to look away but Ren grasped Hux’s chin with long, calloused fingers holding his gaze. “I had trusted you, Hux, but it was not absolute. I needed to be certain that there was no question in your mind. It was one thing for you to follow me when I was supreme leader, another thing entirely to see me as emperor. I wanted to know how you would respond to the temptation of the throne. I had planned to have him approach you again after the coronation and force you to react, but clearly there was no need. You erased all suspicion I might have had toward you when you chose my life over you own.” 

Hux wanted to be furious. Ren had been playing mind games with him, trying to draw him out into some sort of guilty admission. Ren hadn’t trusted him.Yet, he couldn’t really bring himself to feel angry. Strangely enough he was almost proud of Ren. It had been a brilliant move and in a way it had drawn him out exactly as it had been intended to. It had forced him to finally confront the truth of his feelings for Ren as well as for what they had built together. 

When Hux at last spoke, Ren had moved his hand from his jaw and had instead begun to run it gently up his forearm. “Well, Ren. I am impressed. I would have never imagined you would manage to outthink me, but you have. I was wrong about you. You may be even more shrewd then I am.” 

“I don’t think I will ever be able to best you in that respect, Hux.” Ren’s words were kind. This face was back to that serenely, noble expression that looked both odd and perfect on him. That large hand traced delicate patters on the inside of Hux’s pale wrist. It was electric. 

There was a pause. Only the sound of the garden’s beyond the window kept it from true silence. It was Ren that broke the silence with his rich voice. Hux could not help but think about how musical it was. Rich and deep it washed over him like the afternoon sun above. “Hux, I need to know. What was it that made you do that? You would only stand to gain from my death. You told me you chose me over, the other, and I see now that I was a fool not to see that, but I still cannot quite believe that you would chose my life over everything else.” There were so close now. Ren had leaned even closer to him, still managing to feel imposing even though they sat on an even plane. It was like Ren was trying to press the truth from him with the sheer weight of his presence. 

“Yes, you are a fool and I am too. I don’t know what I was thinking. And seeing as as a result of my choice I got a blaster bolt to the heart, I really don’t know why I did it. Maybe it was that force you are always on about,” Hux whispered tersely. He could already feel himself getting pulled into those eyes. Ren’s hand had slipped from his forearms down across his hip. He shuddered as they traced their way up his waist and then down the length of his thigh. It was incredibly difficult not to stutter as they brushed over his body. “The moment came and I knew that I couldn’t let you die. I don’t understand it and I probably never will. It was just what needed to happen, ” he whispered. It was only part of the truth. Hux was quite aware of the reason he had stepped infant of the blaster bolt. It was what he had felt the moment he realized that the second assist was going to take the shot: that he loved Ren and that nothing else mattered. The throne didn’t matter, the order didn’t matter, the truth in the old imperials words, that woman, or Milo, or even what Ren had decided when he had turned on him. The only thing that mattered was that he loved Ren and that he was willing to die for that love. It had been so perfectly clear. Nothing had every been simpler. He had not thought only felt and acted. 

Ren leaned impossibly closer into him. They were so close now that Hux could see the flecks of gold in his brown eyes as he spoke. “You felt the will of the force work through you, Hux. You felt it when I did not. You saw what I was blind to see.” There was awe in his voice, a reverence that was intoxicating and suffocating. Hux took another short, shallow breath and the rolled his eyes. He had forgotten what a fanatic his new emperor was. Insane and lovely. 

“Spare me your nonsense, Ren. I just decided that as annoying and horrible as you can be, I couldn’t have your blood on my hands,” Hux replied. He knew there was a little edge to the words but it felt safer to try and fall back into that old dynamic of theirs. The new was too difficult to navigate. More to the point, Ren was so close. It would only take a little shift for their lips to brush. 

Ren smiled gently. There was laughter and fire in his eyes. “Oh Hux,” he tutted. “You can’t hide from me. Not anymore. I let you hide from this and I won’t make the same mistake again.” 

“I’m not the one who ‘force’ married us and then walked away,” He bit back halfheartedly. He wished to enjoy the look of regret that swept over Ren’s features, but not really. It should have felt like a victory but instead it only made Ren more magnetic. “No, you weren’t. I was so caught up in wanting you to be mind that I did not think. I just acted and I caused you pain. I am sorry for that,” Ren replied. His voice was hushed and his tone so honest and brutal. 

Hux gasped in surprise when Ren pressed a kiss to the pale column of his throat. Then he let out a groan at the brush of soft dark hair against the side of his face. He suppressed another one when he felt more then heard Ren speaking against his skin. “I wanted to hide as well. I thought I didn’t need attachments and you made me- make me feel alive. Force, you make me burn,” Ren whispered. The hand on his thigh tightened deliciously. Hux let his eyes shudder closed as those lips worked their way higher up his neck. “I should have taken you for my own that night in your rooms. I pulled you in and then pushed you away because I though I couldn’t have this. After what we’ve done to one another I thought it could never be sweet only a game of domination and submission, but I wanted more then that. I wanted all of you.” With that ren pulled Hux into a viscous kiss. It was a battle of teeth and tongues and when they broke apart, Hux was left gasping for breath. Ren’s other hand had come to rest in a tight grip on Hux’s hip. The general shuddered one more and Ren leaned down to press kisses to his collar bone. “I thought about killing him, you know? The man I thought had taken you from me. I thought about taking his head from his shoulders and leaving it on your doorstep.” Hux tipped his head back as the lips moved their way across his chest in a soft brush of skin. “I was furious. I tried to forget you. I planned to let the council find someone for me to marry, to spite you. I thought I could erase you, but I wasn’t strong enough. But I couldn’t even do that. Not when every time I saw my mark on your palm I was reminded that you belong to me. Nothing could change that.” 

Hux was about to respond when he felt the warm wetness of Ren’s tongue trace up his throat once more. The sensation was so depraved and debauched that it halted any thoughts he might have had. “All I see when I close my eyes is your face. Knowing you had once wanted me too made it so much worse. I hated you for it until I saw the blood on your hands.” His emperor pulled him into another breathtaking kiss. He was drowning, but if this what it felt like, then he didn’t care if he never breathed again. 

When they pulled apart Ren was smiling that violent smile of his and Hux leaned forward to catch the bottom of that smile in his teeth. The red haired man was not gentle. He wanted it to sting as he sunk his teeth into the soft flesh. Kylo’s groan drove him half mad with lust. “Shut up. Stop monologuing and touch me,” Hux growled when at last he let it fall from his teeth. Drops of blood welled in the pink of Ren’s lip from where he had broken the skin. That smile reappeared and Ren was on him. Hux had never seen anything so elementally beautiful as Ren covered in blood, eyes blackened with lust. 

The pain in his chest flared for a second as they crashed together, falling on one another with the ferocity of a summer storm. Ren made to pull back when Hux winced in pain, but the general pulled him back in. The pain barely registered over the want that flowed through him. He would probably ache with it later, but he was used to walking away from Ren bruised anyway. It didn’t matter, he was caught up in the tempest that was their union to turn back now. 

The kisses they shared were graceless and full of the longing they had both denied for so long. Ren threw back the blankets, baring the general’s bare body and causing him to shudder as the wave of cool air hit him. At a sigh from Hux, Ren threw his shirt aside and laid his burning body on Hux’s chilled skin. When Hux gasped at the feeling of his emperor over him, Ren caught it on his tongue. When Ren moaned, Hux breathed it into his lungs. 

Hux slipped his hands under the loose trousers while Ren sunk his teeth into his neck once more. He traced his fingers along the muscles that rippled beneath Kylo’s skin. His nails bit into strong buttocks and thighs. If Ren was going to continue leaving marks on him, then Hux was going to do the same. If he was going to belong to the emperor, the emperor was damn well going to belong to him too. The room seemed impossibly hot as Ren slipped the pants off and they were finally bare against one another.  
Hux gasped as Kylo ground into him. Ren’s heavy hands ran their way from his shoulders to his hips, nails dragging against the fragile skin. The general was nearly on the brink of tears. He felt one drip slowly down his cheek only for Kylo to kiss it away with bloody lips. Hux knew that nothing could ever compare to this. This was not about submission and power, as those encounters in his rooms had been at first. This was about passion and the burning, hateful love they shared for one another. 

He felt slick fingers trace their way between his legs and when at long last Ren slid inside him, Hux felt like he was caught in the riptide of a violent ocean. Every breath was slow and heavy as they rocked together. Hux could barely bring himself to look into Kylo’s eyes, but at the same time couldn’t bare to look away. The love that burned there was harsh and wild as he had always known it would be. With every breath they breathed together Hux knew he falling closer and closer to the edge. When he fell, at least he would not fall alone. Kylo would come along with him. 

When at last they had fallen into stillness, skin covered in sweat, Hux let his eyes fall closed once more. The sound of their harsh breaths sounded so faint in the cavernous room. The sun was starting to fade, covering their skin in the red orange glow of sunset. He sighed as Ren’s hands once again found their way from his hips to his face. 

He felt those full lips press a gentle kiss to his forehead. Then Ren was shifting. For a panicked moment Hux thought that Kylo was moving to leave, but he was reassured when Ren’s bulky body came to wrap him in its warmth. They lay their in the warmth of the bed and when Hux heard Ren whisper words in a strange language against the back of his neck, he repeated them back without thinking. 

Hux drifted to sleep with the man he loved at his back, holding him close against the cold of the galaxy they lived in. 

 

 

A week later the throne room was once again filled to capacity. The crowd watched excitedly as their emperor and his savior stood before the dais with a priest on the step above them. They made a striking couple. The emperor was clad in purest black, his crown shining dark and beautiful on his brow. His bulky body the epitome of physical power. His consort, Armitage Hux was dressed in beautiful white with a crown of white flowers carved from pure silvery stone resting on his red hair. They stood so close that they seemed nearly connected. They spoke their vows in hushed tones, eyes fixed on nothing but one another. 

When the ceremony was concluded and the priest announced them to be joined for life in front of the galaxy they ascended the steps. They turned to face the crowd before them. Green, blue eyes and brown ones watched the cheering people and the confuting and flowers falling on the cold stone floor of the hall. As the band began to play, they took their seats. Emperor Kylo Ren sat on his throne of dark stone, its jagged edges shining in the sunlight. Hux sat in its twin, a throne of perfect white crystal. 

Together they sat before the galaxy- two extraordinary men, two conquerors, to builders, two rulers- one clad in purest black and the other in purest white, both with fire in their eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for sticking through this with me! I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it! Thank you for your comments and Kudos!


End file.
